Siddaramaiah meets PM, seeks loan revisions & action on water projects
New delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested rectification in short-term farm loan limit, Rs 10,000 crore in financial support and urgent clearances for the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and Kalasa Bandhuri projects.
In the meeting in the Parliament complex, Siddaramaiah pressed for several key interventions focusing on critical areas, including agriculture, water resources and urban infrastructure.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Karnataka chief minister said, “We provide credit to 35 lakh farmers. The drastic cut in the short-term agricultural credit limit will impact the agriculture sector and force farmers to depend on private lenders.”
NABARD has reduced the short-term agricultural credit limit for Karnataka from Rs 5,600 crore in 2023-24 to just Rs 2,340 crore in 2024-25, a 58 per cent reduction that could severely impact farmers’ access to soft loans, he said.
He also pushed for clearances of two critical water projects – the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir on the Kaveri river and the Kalasa Bandhuri project on the Mahadayi river – both awaiting approvals from the Jal Shakti and Environment ministries.
