Centre releases Rs. 1764 Cr grant for four states

The Ministry of Finance's Department of Expenditure released Rs. 17.64 billion to four states for grants to million-plus cities/Urban agglomerations. Grants were distributed to the states of Andhra Pradesh (Rs.1.36 billion), Chhattisgarh (Rs.1.09 billion), Maharashtra (Rs. 7.99 billion), and Uttar Pradesh (Rs. 7.20 billion). The grants are intended for the Million Plus Cities/ Urban Agglomerations (MPC/UAs) of Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Durg Bhilainagar and Raipur in the state of Chhattisgarh, Aurangabad, Greater Mumbai, Nagpur Nashik, Pune and Vasai-Virar City in the state of Maharashtra, and Agra, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow. In its report for the years 2021–2022–2025–2026, the 15th Finance Commission (15th F.C.) divided urban local bodies into two groups: (a) urban agglomerations/cities with a population of one million or more (aside from Delhi and Srinagar), and (b) all other cities and towns with a population of less than one million (Non-Million Plus cities). The 15th F.C. has suggested that they each receive separate grants. More than two thirds of the grants suggested by the Commission for Million Plus Cities/ Urban Agglomerations (MPC/UAs) for solid waste management are allocated, and the remaining one-third is for ambient air quality. The 15th F.C. recommended Solid Waste Management grant component of the Million Plus Cities Challenge Fund for Million-Plus cities/UAs is intended to be used for enhancing drinking water quality & supply (including rainwater harvesting and recycling), sanitation, and achieving star ratings by the urban local bodies in Solid Waste Management in accordance with the approved City Action Plan (CAP) and commitments made in the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on December 18, 2017. The following table lists the urban local bodies (ULB) grant amounts distributed to the states for the fiscal year 2022–2023 by state: Sr no. State      Amount of ULB grant released in FY 2022-23 (Rs in crore)   1 Andhra Pradesh                293.75     2 Arunachal Pradesh 0.00 3 Assam   0.00 4 Bihar 7.35 5 Chhattisgarh 307.20     6 Goa 0.00        7 Gujarat  20.21 8 Haryana 77.40       9 Himachal Pradesh 78.00     10 Jharkhand 11.94 11 Karnataka 7.35                           12 Kerala  256.00     13 Madhya Pradesh 314.10     14 Maharashtra 840.34     15 Manipur 42.50       16 Meghalaya 44.00     17 Mizoram 17.00       18 Nagaland 0.00        19 Orissa 0.00        20 Punjab 0.00        21 Rajasthan 11.94     22 Sikkim 7.50 23 Tamil Nadu 14.70 24 Telangana 331.40     25 Tripura 21.00     26 Uttar Pradesh 1988.07 27 Uttarakhand  62.70       28 West Bengal 7.35            Total 4761.80 See also:Govt approves Rs 433 cr action plan to check urban waste management Govt launches slew of ambitious water projects to conserve water