On Friday when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah gets up to present the
State budget, the debt-ridden BBMP will be looking to him for special
grants to help it complete many pending projects even as it prepares to
present its own budget on Monday.

Speaking to Express, Mayor B S
Sathyanarayana said officials met the CM recently and urged him to
allocate Rs 5,000 crore in special grants. “We gave a detailed report on
works that were under progress. The CM assured us of looking into our
request. We hope BBMP gets a better share,” he said. “At present, four
projects, including a steel bridge near Minerva Circle, have been
approved by the Centre under JnNURM grants. We expect the State
government to allocate its share for these four projects,” he added.

The
Mayor said, being a Bangalorean, he expected no additional tax will be
introduced in the State budget. “The CM should give priority to city
infrastructure. As a vehicle user, I want space to park my vehicle at
Metro stations as BMRCL has not made such provisions. I expect the
budget will lay stress on parking lots at Metro stations,” he said.

District-in-charge
Minister R Ramalinga Reddy said as the city’s population had reached
one crore, revenue from the City to the government in terms of taxes had
also increased. “Siddaramiah’s budget will definitely focus on
upgradation of major roads, development of newly-added areas and
matching grants for JnNURM projects,” he said.

Reddy said the BBMP
had availed of loans of up to Rs 2,000 crore and Rs 1,500 crore for
ongoing works. This apart, they have expenses like salary and
transportation. “Hope the CM will rescue them,” he said.