Finance ministry releases Rs 1,764 crore grant to four states

The finance ministry on Wednesday released Rs 1,764 crore grant to four states.

The states to which grants were released are Andhra Pradesh (Rs 136 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 109 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 799 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 720 crore).

"The Department of Expenditure today released an amount of Rs 1,764 crore to 4 states for providing grants to million plus cities/urban agglomerations," the ministry said in a statement.

The grants released are meant for Million Plus Cities/ Urban Agglomerations (MPC/UAs) of Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh; Durg Bhilainagar and Raipur in Chhattisgarh; Aurangabad, Greater Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune and Vasai-Virar City in Maharashtra.

It is also meant for Agra, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

The 15th Finance Commission in its report for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 has divided the urban local bodies into two categories: (a) Million-Plus urban agglomerations/cities (excluding Delhi and Srinagar), and (b) all other cities and towns with less than one million population (Non-Million Plus cities). The finance commission has recommended separate grants for them.

Out of the total grants recommended by the Commission for MPC/UAs, more than 2/3rd is recommended for solid waste management component and the remaining 1/3rd is allocated for ambient air quality.