NITI Aayog tells Karnataka to consider building a ‘second Bengaluru’ to ease pressure on capital

The NITI Aayog has suggested that the Karnataka government consider building a “second Bengaluru” in the State to reduce the pressure on the capital.

The suggestion came from NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri during a meeting with Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar in Bengaluru on Wednesday. “I am proud of Karnataka’s development. To reduce pressure on Bengaluru, there is a need to seriously consider building a second Bengaluru in Karnataka,” said Mr. Lahiri.

The Chief Minister said that a proper plan would be prepared as per NITI Aayog’s expectations. Steps taken by other states in this regard would also be considered, he said.

“Every year, Karnataka produces 1.6 lakh engineers and about 13,000 doctors. Bengaluru has 26 lakh IT professionals. The population of Bengaluru is continuously increasing. The number of people settling in Bengaluru is also rising. All these factors are increasing pressure on Bengaluru,” the Chief Minister explained.

He said several ambitious projects were at the implementation stage to improve Bengaluru’s infrastructure.

Mr. Shivakumar appealed to the NITI Aayog to have special consideration for Karnataka.. “The nation has huge expectations from Karnataka. It is in a leading position in the country in GDP, per capita income, human development index, technology and innovation, foreign direct investment, exports, start=ups, and IT services. Karnataka has the best quality human resources in the country.”

Pointing out that after a long time, Karnataka had got an opportunity to hold a separate meeting with NITI Aayog, the Chief Minister sought its full support to the State.

The Chief Minister requested NITI Aayog to ensure that Karnataka gets its due share of Central funds, including the pending grants that were announced earlier in the Central Budget. In a federal system, States and the Central government must work with mutual cooperation, he noted.

“Recently, while speaking with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, I said that Southern States have properly implemented population control measures, but they should not be punished by reducing fund allocation based on population,” he recalled.