Centre releases Rs. 1764 Cr grant for four states

21 Oct 2022 CW Team

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