India Explained
ImplementedINCSiddaramaiahState: karnataka

Karnataka Shakti free bus travel for women (2023)

On 11 June 2023 Karnataka's Congress government began free travel for women on state-run non-AC buses, the first of its five poll guarantees. The five guarantees cost about Rs 51,000 crore in 2025-26.

Karnataka

Facts

  • Shakti was launched at Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru on 11 June 2023 by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, as the first of the Congress party's five poll guarantees [1].
  • Women may travel free within Karnataka on government (KSRTC and BMTC) buses, excluding air-conditioned and sleeper services, on showing an official ID; half of the seats are reserved for male passengers; travel beyond state borders is chargeable [1].
  • Karnataka Transport Department officials projected a cost of Rs 4,051.56 crore a year at launch; a later report cited by The South First says 210.29 crore free rides cost Rs 5,097 crore up to 17 May (year not clearly stated, appears to be 2024) [3].
  • The 2025-26 budget placed Shakti at Rs 5,300 crore and all five guarantee schemes at Rs 51,034 crore, about 14% of total expenditure; PRS reports Rs 51,286 crore, about 12%, for 2026-27 [2][3].
  • PRS reports that the CAG (2025) found the guarantee schemes increased revenue expenditure and the revenue deficit, and that higher allocations to them in 2023-24 reduced infrastructure spending by Rs 5,229 crore compared with the previous year [2].

Why

Reasons given by those who did it

  • The government described the scheme as supporting women's rights and as the first of its five poll guarantees [1].
  • In the 2025-26 budget speech Siddaramaiah framed the guarantees as investments rather than handouts, as reported in the search results for [3]; the speech itself was not opened.

Criticism of that reasoning

  • The CAG (2025), as summarised by PRS, linked the guarantee schemes to higher revenue expenditure, a higher revenue deficit and partial borrowing to fund them [2].

Benefits and concerns

Benefits (2)

  • Direct reduction in travel costs for women riding state buses, at large scale.210.29 crore free rides recorded in the period reported by The South First [3]; the effect on household spending or women's employment was not measured in the sources opened.
  • Eligibility is simple (official ID) and the scheme was implemented within weeks of the new government taking office on 20 May 2023.Launch on 11 June 2023 [1]; government start date from the state government data used by this site.

Concerns (2)

  • Fiscal cost has exceeded the launch projection and guarantee spending is a large share of the budget.Projected Rs 4,051.56 crore a year vs reported Rs 5,097 crore for the period cited [3]; five guarantees 14% of expenditure in 2025-26 [2].
  • The state auditor linked the guarantee schemes to higher revenue deficit and reduced infrastructure spending in 2023-24.PRS summary of the CAG (2025): infrastructure spending lower by Rs 5,229 crore; fiscal deficit 2.14% of GSDP (2022-23) to 2.97% (2024-25) [2].

Evidence points

+5.0
points, mean of two scorers (scale −25 to +25)
+5 to +5
range between the two scorers' totals
Medium confidence
scorers agree within 1 point on every criterion
ReachHow many people did the action materially affect?
Mean +3.0A +3B +3
Outcome evidenceDo official or independent data show the intended result (or its opposite), compared with the era baseline and peers?
Mean +1.0A +1B +1
Cost and sustainabilityIs the fiscal cost proportionate, and is the effect durable?
Mean −2.0A −2B −2
Process and rightsWas it made with debate, consultation and legal soundness, and did it respect rights and court rulings?
Mean 0.0A 0B 0
DeliveryWas it implemented as announced, on time and at scale?
Mean +3.0A +3B +3

Positive meanNegative meanScorer AScorer B

Scorer A. Over 210 crore free rides delivered quickly, but cost exceeded projection and the auditor linked guarantees to a higher revenue deficit.

Scorer B. Large-scale free travel launched quickly, but costs above projection and CAG links guarantees to higher deficit.

Context used when scoring

Era baseline
Karnataka's fiscal deficit stood at 2.14% of GSDP in 2022-23, the year before the guarantees began [2]; the sources opened do not compare Shakti with other states' schemes.
Lag before outcomes show
2 years
Uncertainty
Medium confidence. Scorer totals are +5 and +5. How uncertainty is shown.

In depth

Shakti was the first of five guarantees promised by the Congress in the 2023 Karnataka election campaign, which the party’s government implemented after taking office. Women can ride state-run non-AC buses within Karnataka at no charge on showing an ID.

The government presents the scheme as supporting women’s rights and the guarantees as investments. Budget and audit documents, as summarised by PRS, show the five guarantee schemes together at about Rs 51,000 crore a year and report an audit finding that they raised the revenue deficit and reduced infrastructure spending in 2023-24.

This entry does not weigh the guarantees’ separate effects on women’s mobility or employment, because the sources opened do not report such outcomes. The cost figures for Shakti alone come from press reports of official data rather than from budget documents opened directly.

Sources

  2. Karnataka Budget Analysis 2026-27
    PRS Legislative ResearchOfficial data

Last reviewed .Report an error orchallenge a score.

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