Karnataka CM Shivakumar Presents Wish List to Centre: River Waters and Bengaluru Infra Top Priorities

New Delhi: New Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's first wish list to the Centre focuses on two priorities-securing the state's share of river waters and a major infrastructure upgrade for Bengaluru, with the CM citing the IT hub's contribution to the national economy and the need to strengthen its infrastructure to sustain global competitiveness, ET has learnt.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Modi and other union ministers last week- the first after taking over as CM- Shivakumar is learnt to also have drawn attention to pending central approvals for several hydel projects in the state including the contentious Mekedatu project- vehemently opposed by lower riparian state Tamil Nadu.

New TN CM, CJ Vijay, in fact, has already written to the PM urging that neighbouring Karnataka be stopped from embarking on the project.

Meanwhile, Shivakumar is learnt to have called on Water Resources minister C R Patil last week urging intervention- pointing out that Tamil Nadu's review petition on the issue has also been dismissed by the Supreme Court on April 15, 2026 and it is now for the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and Central Water Commission (CWC) to appraise the project and clear it.

He has also drawn attention to the decade long delay by the Centre in notifying the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal II, the huge amounts invested by the state in upper Krishna project Stage III implementation and the need for Centre's support to get Karnataka its fair share of the waters. The award is still in a tangle over objections from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana- the term of the Tribunal was, in fact, extended by a year on August 1, 2025.

The CM has further drawn attention to how the ₹5,300 crore announced as central assistance for the Upper Bhadra project in the 2023-24 budget is yet to be released- impacting lakhs of framers in central Karnataka.