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The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on state finances for the year 2023-24, of Karnataka, made a startling revelation that the guarantee schemes reduced capital expenditure towards infrastructure by around Rs 5,229 crore.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru

THE report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on state finances for the year 2023-24, of Karnataka, made a startling revelation that the guarantee schemes reduced capital expenditure towards infrastructure by around Rs 5,229 crore.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented the report in the Assembly on Tuesday. The reduction in capital expenditure also increased the number of incomplete projects to 3,140 from 1,864, and the funds aggregating to Rs 4,482 crore were locked up in the incomplete projects, it explained.

The government spent Rs 52,120 crore on the capital account, which was around 17 per cent of the total expenditure during 2023-24, a decrease by Rs 5,229 crore, when compared to the previous year (Rs 57,349 crore).

The guarantees accounted for 15 per cent of revenue expenditure, which resulted in the increase in growth of expenditure (12.54 per cent from the previous year) which was the contributing revenue deficit of 9,271 crore. Consequently, the fiscal deficit of the state also increased from Rs 46,623 crore in 2022-23, to Rs 65,522 crore in 2023-24, it noted.