Bengaluru water tariff set to rise as BWSSB faces ₹1,000 crore deficit, DK Shivakumar says hike ‘unavoidable’

According to Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is thinking of raising the city's water bill by one paisa per litre. Shivakumar defended the choice, saying that budgetary limitations made the raise inevitable. "The only option available to us is to increase the fee by one or even half a paisa per litre.

For economically disadvantaged areas, I have, however, ordered that the hike be kept to a minimum. He promised that small homes would not be impacted. He disclosed that the BWSSB is dealing with ₹1,000 crore in financial losses. "We must demonstrate to financial organizations like JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) that we are not a charity in order to receive money for the next stage. It will be hard to get loans without this," he said.

In the meantime, the Congress-led administration is being accused of placing more financial responsibilities on the people by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has started a statewide protest. The opposition party opposes recent hikes in the cost of milk and petrol, power tariffs, and public transportation charges in addition to the proposed hike in water tariffs.