Centre releases over Rs 1,536 crore to strengthen rural local bodies in 8 states
New Delhi: The Centre, on Wednesday, announced the release of more than Rs 1,536.14 crore to strengthen rural local bodies in Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttarakhand during Financial Year (FY) 2025–26 as part of the 15th Finance Commission’s tied and untied grants.
The releases cover regular instalments as well as withheld portions pertaining to various financial years.
A sum of Rs 466.79 crore was released for Rajasthan as tied grants, while Jharkhand was given Rs 405.23 crore and Telangana Rs 371. 91 crore.
An amount of Rs 136.58 crore was released for the hill state of Uttarakhand and Rs 53.13 crore for Odisha while Goa and Gujarat got Rs 18.27 crore and Rs 2.98 crore, respectively.
Earlier on March 25, the Centre released more than Rs 1,142 crore to bolster rural local bodies in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Mizoram during FY 2025–26 as part of the 15th Finance Commission’s untied grants.
For Madhya Pradesh, a sum of Rs 631.91 crore was released as the second instalment of Untied Grants of FY 2025-26.
Similarly, for Jharkhand, the first instalment of untied grants was released of the FY 2025-26 amounting to Rs 269.03 crore.
In the case of Punjab Rs 222 crore was released as the second instalment of untied grants for FY 2025-26, while Mizoram got an amount of Rs 14.80 crore as the second instalment of untied grants.
The Union government through the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation) recommends release of 15th Finance Commission grants to states for Panchayati Raj institutions, which are then released by the Ministry of Finance.
The allocated grants are recommended and released in two instalments in a financial year.
Untied Grants may be utilised by Panchayati Raj institutions and rural local bodies to meet location-specific needs under the 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule, excluding salaries and establishment costs.
Tied grants can be used for the basic services of sanitation and maintenance of ODF (open defecation-free) status, and this should include management and treatment of household waste, and human excreta and faecal sludge management in particular.
These grants can also be used for the supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling.