Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that social media will be banned for children below the age of 16 while presenting the 2026–27 State Budget in the Vidhana Soudha.
During his Budget speech, the Chief Minister said the decision is aimed at preventing the adverse effects of increasing mobile phone usage among children.
The Chief Minister also announced that an AI and Technology Park will be set up under the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The institute will establish a Robotics and AI campus named the “Bangalore Robotics and AI Innovation Zone” in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KEONICS).
As part of infrastructure development, Siddaramaiah said that the North–South Corridor project from Hebbal Junction to HSR Layout–Silk Board Junction and the East–West Corridor project from K. R. Puram to Mysore Road have been approved. The two projects together cover 40 kilometres and will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 40,000 crore under the BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) model.
In the first phase, tenders have been invited for the 17-km North–South Corridor project, estimated to cost Rs 17,780 crore.
The Chief Minister also announced that a tunnel road and an elevated corridor from Hebbal Junction to Mekhri Circle will be constructed by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) at a cost of Rs 2,250 crore.
The Karnataka State Budget for 2026–27 has been pegged at Rs 4,48,004 crore, with a focus on technology-driven growth, infrastructure development and environmental sustainability.
Presenting the Budget, Siddaramaiah said Karnataka plays a distinctive role in national and international trade and that rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are transforming global production systems. He said innovations in science and technology are increasingly shaping the state’s development trajectory.
Referring to the GST rate rationalisation carried out in September 2025, the Chief Minister said the changes have affected the state’s revenue collections.
He noted that before the rationalisation, Karnataka’s average monthly GST revenue growth in 2025–26 was around 10 per cent (net of refunds). However, after the revised rates were implemented, the average monthly growth has moderated to around 4 per cent.
According to the Chief Minister, the restructuring is expected to reduce overall GST collections by about Rs 10,000 crore in the current financial year and Rs 15,000 crore in the next year.
Among other announcements, Siddaramaiah said that two AI Centres of Excellence will be established in Bengaluru in collaboration with the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) and NASSCOM, at a total cost of Rs 16 crore.
He also announced the establishment of a Leopard Rehabilitation Centre at Bannerghatta Biological Park, with an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore, to rehabilitate leopards captured from residential areas on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Under the Karnataka Water Security and Resilience Programme (KWSRP), a World Bank-funded initiative, disaster management projects will be implemented over five years at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore to address flooding in Bengaluru.
The Chief Minister further said that transfers of Group-C cadre officers in the Excise Department, including Excise Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors and Head Constables/Constables, have been carried out through digital counselling in line with revised transfer rules to ensure greater transparency.
The government will also extend digital counselling to the transfers of Excise Deputy Superintendents and Excise Superintendents, he added.
-ANI
