BENGALURU, Dec 11: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s air travel expenditure has surged at a pace that is expected to become the centrepiece of a major political confrontation, with official records revealing a steep and continuous rise in the government’s spending on chartered aircraft and helicopters over the past three financial periods.
According to detailed expenditure statements tabled before the Legislative Council, the state government spent Rs 12.23 crore on the Chief Minister’s chartered flights in 2023-24. The amount rose sharply to Rs 21.11 crore in 2024-25, marking an increase of nearly 75 per cent in just one year.
What is likely to trigger the sharpest response from the opposition, however, is the bill for the next period. A separate annexure shows that Rs 14.03 crore was spent solely between October and November 2025 – a span of just two months.
The Opposition is pointing out that this two-month expenditure is already comparable to an entire year’s spending in 2023-24, reflecting what they describe as an “uncontrolled rise” in VIP travel costs.
The information was disclosed in a written reply to BJP MLC N Ravi Kumar, who sought details of the Chief Minister’s air travel expenses. The figures were compiled by the Public Works Department’s Buildings Division and include helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft hired for official tours within Karnataka and to cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Shirdi.
The records list extensive helicopter travel to districts, including Mysuru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Udupi, Chitradurga, Haveri and Bidar, along with fixed-wing flights to major metropolitan centres.
Many entries are marked “Chief Minister and others aircraft sector,” indicating that chartered aircraft were hired for multi-member delegations accompanying the Chief Minister.
BJP leaders are expected to seize on the year-on-year escalation to launch a more aggressive attack on the government. They argue that the rising expenditure comes at a time when Karnataka is grappling with fiscal pressure, drought advisories and demands for higher allocations to welfare schemes.
Political analysts say the steep upward curve – Rs 12.23 crore, then Rs 21.11 crore, and Rs 14.03 crore in just two months – provides the opposition with a tangible and quantifiable issue to press ahead with its criticism of the Congress government’s financial management.
The revelations, they add, are likely to dominate the winter session of the legislature as both sides gear up for a heated exchange over priorities, transparency and the rising cost of governance.
(UNI)
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