File photo of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday, the Prime Minister highlighted the recent unrest among sugarcane farmers. | Photo credit:
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented a five-point charter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday, highlighting the state’s concerns over the sugarcane price crisis and long-pending clearance of irrigation projects, even as he sought central support for a broader set of development and financial demands.
Highlighting the recent unrest among sugarcane growers, the Chief Minister said that the state has introduced an interim arrangement that mandates an additional payment of ₹100 per tonne of sugarcane, with the government itself contributing ₹50 to the burden. The memorandum stated that this arrangement was a temporary solution and that the main problems lay with the center.
The state urged the Prime Minister to revise the minimum support price (MSP) for sugar — fixed at ₹ 31 per kg for several years — and to ensure assured offtake of ethanol from Karnataka distilleries. A central notification was also called for under the sustainable pricing framework to enable states to fix harvesting and transportation costs.
Irrigation projects
Mr. Siddaramaiah has urged urgent intervention to break the deadlock on several major water projects, several of which have been awaiting approval from the central authority for years. These included Mekedatu, Krishna Disputes Tribunal II, Upper Bhadra and Kalasa-Banduri.
While demanding that the Center direct the Central Water Commission to expedite clearance of the proposed buffer reservoir on the Cauvery, he sought immediate notification of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal’s award, which has been pending for more than a decade.
He reminded the Prime Minister of the grant of ₹ 5,300 crore announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 for the Upper Bhadra project and urged for speedy release of the allocation. In addition, he also asked the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to cut down forests and wildlife for drinking water projects earmarked for the Hubballi–Dharwad region.
AIIMS requirement
The Chief Minister strongly argued for the establishment of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raichur, an aspirational district in the Kalyana region of Karnataka. A separate memorandum submitted in this regard described the region as having “below average” health and education indicators and a high population of SC/ST and backward classes, making it an “unnecessary need” for a high-quality referral medical centre.
It was pointed out that the state has already submitted a detailed project report, identified land and set up a government medical college in Raichur to create the basic ecosystem for a national institute. AIIMS is expected to serve more districts and be a catalyst for socio-economic development.
Jal Jeevan Mission
A significant point of discussion was the alleged financial shortfall in the Centre’s share of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). The state claimed that while achieving more than 86% functional household tap connections, the central government had a cumulative short release of ₹13,004.63 crore till 2025-26. The memorandum stated that no central funds have been released for the current fiscal year (2025-26), while Karnataka has already provided ₹1,500 crore from its own budget to prevent work from stalling. Bills worth ₹1,700 crore were outstanding and another ₹2,600 crore was in the pipeline, prompting an urgent request to release balance funds, the memo said.
Flood relief
For disaster relief, Mr. Siddaramaiah has sought ₹2,136 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund for damage caused by this year’s unprecedented rains, which affected 19 million farmers and damaged crops on 14.5 million hectares.
The Chief Minister expressed hope that the Center would extend support to both immediate concerns and long-pending structural issues affecting the state.
Published – 17 Nov 2025 21:27 IST
