Contractors Association to hold protest on March 3 for release of ₹3,000 cr. pending bills

Demanding the release of a pending bill amounting to ₹31,000 crore by the government, the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association will hold a massive protest on March 5 in Bengaluru.

Talking to reporters in Mangaluru on Thursday, February 12, Association president R. Manjunath said that the over three-year delay has pushed the small and medium contractors to dire straits. “The delay in releasing the pending amount is hurting us badly. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should open his eyes to clear the pending bills,” he said.

Out of the total ₹31,000 crore pending as of December 2025, ₹13,000 crore is pending from the Water Resources Department. In addition, over ₹3,000 crore each is pending from Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, BBMP and Minor Irrigation Departments, respectively. Further, over ₹2,000 crore each is pending from the Urban Development, Wakf and Labour Departments respectively.

Despite assurances by Ministers and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, no action has been taken so far. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has so far not held a single meeting with the Association regarding the release of the pending bills. “We are not playing any politics. We want the government to release the pending bills at the earliest. If the amount is released, we can clear our debt and reinvest the amount in new works,” Mr. Manjunath said.

Mr. Manjunath further accused officials and ministers of demanding a “percentage” in exchange for the release of bills, but he declined to disclose the “percentage” being collected. “Definitely, the percentage is higher than what was collected during the BJP’s tenure. My predecessor, Kempanna, said 40%, and we had to be in prison, as we had no proof of payment of the percentage. It is difficult to prove the bribe paid by us. Even the Nagamohandas Commission failed to prove the ‘40% commission’,” he said. If CM calls a meeting, the contractors can clearly provide the names of officials and Ministers who were demanding a bribe for the release of pending bills. No seniority was being followed in the release of pending bills, he said.

Mr. Manjunath called upon the BJP not to politicise the issue but to help the Association in the clearance of pending bills. When pointed to the State government’s allegation that it was not getting necessary funds from Union government, Mr. Manjunath said the State government should fight to get the necessary funds from the Centre.

President of Dakshina Kannada District Contractors’ Association Radhakrishna Naik and general secretary K.K. Abdul Nazir said a total of ₹1,162 crore was pending for contractors of the region. Out of this, ₹647 crore was from the Minor Irrigation Department, ₹300 crore from PWD, ₹209 crore from the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department and ₹6.27 crore from the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat.

Mr. Naik said no works were being given to small and medium contractors of the region for over two years, while it was being bagged by big contractors from other states. Works were also being issued to Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited, formerly called as Karnataka Land Army, and contractors were forced to take sub contracts of these works, Mr. Nazir said.