Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday appealed the Central Government to release Rs. 3,310 crore as compensation for rabi crop loss suffered last year in Karnataka. The State had incurred crop losses to the tune of Rs. 7,097 crore.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who attended the 3rd Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said farmers in Karnataka had been reeling under drought for the sixth successive year, and 139 and 160 taluks had been declared drought affected in kharif and rabi seasons respectively.

Chief Minister regretted that the overall grants for major schemes under centrally-sponsored schemes had been decreased up to a maximum of 50 per cent.

While appreciating the Centre for ushering in GST, Siddaramaiah observed that no provision had been made for compensating loss of revenue for States in the Union Budget 2017-18. “The timely release of compensation to States under GST will be an important factor in ensuring that the relationship of mutual trust is maintained between the Centre and the States,” he noted.

Claiming credit for recording highest enrolment in the GST portal, he said Karnataka had embraced the GST philosophy and presently, had an enrolment of 93 per cent.