Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a crucial one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday, handing over an exhaustive memorandum that effectively placed a ₹18,000-crore-plus demand notice on the Centre’s table. From the raging sugarcane crisis in the state’s sugar belt to the decades-old Mekedatu dam deadlock with Tamil Nadu, the Congress veteran left no pending file untouched in what sources described as a marathon 45-minute session.
Leading the charge was the north Karnataka sugarcane growers’ unrest that recently forced the state government to announce an additional ₹100 per tonne over the mill price, with the exchequer absorbing ₹50. Siddaramaiah told Modi this was merely a temporary patch and demanded immediate Central action: revision of the frozen ₹31-per-kg Fair and Remunerative Price for sugar (unchanged since 2019), guaranteed ethanol procurement from Karnataka distilleries, and a new policy allowing states to fix harvesting and transport charges independently. With mills already groaning under arrears, he warned that without swift intervention, another round of violent protests could erupt before the next crushing season.
On water wars, the CM renewed Karnataka’s aggressive push for the Mekedatu balancing reservoir and drinking water project across the Cauvery in Kanakapura taluk, urging Modi to personally direct the Central Water Commission to grant clearances stalled for six years. He simultaneously demanded immediate gazette notification of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II award pending since 2010 and the release of ₹5,300 crore promised in the 2023-24 Union Budget for the Upper Bhadra irrigation project, besides fast-tracking forest and wildlife clearances for the Kalasa-Banduri scheme on the Mahadayi river to supply drinking water to drought-hit Hubballi-Dharwad twin cities.
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The financial wishlist was staggering: ₹13,004 crore still owed under Jal Jeevan Mission despite Karnataka achieving 86% household tap connections, ₹1,500 crore the state has already advanced from its own coffers for 2025-26 Centrally sponsored schemes, and another ₹4,300 crore in pending bills. Siddaramaiah also pressed for an All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in Raichur and full flood relief package: ₹2,136 crore from NDRF for crop loss across 14.5 lakh hectares affecting 19 lakh farmers, ₹614 crore for immediate relief, and ₹1,521 crore for reconstruction of roads, schools and homes destroyed in this year’s monsoon fury.
With assembly victories still fresh and Lok Sabha polls looming in 2029, Siddaramaiah’s Delhi visit signalled that Karnataka is no mood for delayed cheques or diluted approvals. As he left Parliament House, the message was unmistakable: deliver the funds and clearances now, or face political heat from a state that sends 28 MPs to the BJP-led NDA treasury benches.
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