Karnataka may keep additional expenditure on 5 poll promises fiscal neutral

The implementation of these promises may cost the exchequer an additional sum in the range of Rs 45,000-50,000 crore

As the debate on freebies continued, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the states to be fiscally prudent, the new Karnataka cabinet approved five promises announced by the Congress in its manifesto for the state assembly elections.

At the outset, it seems that the promises -- Rs 200 units of free power to below poverty line (BPL) families, Rs 2,000 allowance to women head of families, Rs 3,000 for graduates unemployed for up to two years after graduation and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders, Rs 10 kg of free rice for all members of BPL homes, and free bus