Bengaluru, February 1: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced the Centre would provide Rs 5,300 crore assistance for the Upper Bhadra project in Karnataka.

In her budget speech in Parliament, she said: "In the drought prone central regions of Karnataka, a central assistance of Rs 5,300 crore will be given for the Upper Bhadra Project." Budget 2023 Highlights: Cigarettes To Get Costlier As FM Nirmala Sitharaman Increases Custom Duty.

According to State officials, the project envisages lifting of 17.40 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water from river Thunga to Bhadra reservoir and 29.90 TMC from Bhadra reservoir.

Expressing gratitude, Bommai in a tweet said, "On behalf of whole of Karnataka I thank the Finance Minister @nsitharaman and the union government led by Prime Minister Mr @narendramodi for announcing a grant of Rs 5,300 crore for the state's flagship Upper Bhadra project in this year's union budget.”

Bommai had repeatedly urged the union government to declare the Upper Bhadra project as a national project as "it will help get a central grant of Rs 16,000 crore". Budget 2023: Centre Likely To Grant Generous Funds and Projects to Poll-Bound Karnataka.

He had also met Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, multiple times and requested her to allocate funds for the project. The central regions of Karnataka often face drought situations despite the presence of two perennial rivers – Tunga and Bhadravathi, which become Tungabhadra after their convergence, and will get a respite with the implementation of the project, officials added. Assembly elections are due in Karnataka by May.