The Finance Ministry on Thursday released over ₹9,800 crore as revenue deficit grant to 17 States.

The Centre provides the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant to the States under Article 275 of the Constitution.

The grants are released as per the recommendations of the Finance Commission in monthly instalments to meet the gap in Revenue Accounts of the States post devolution. The 15th Finance Commission has recommended Post Devolution Release Deficit grants to 17 States.

According to a statement issued by the Finance Ministry, the ₹9,871 crore grant is the second instalment and takes the total amount released to ₹19,742 crore in the first two months of the current financial year.

The States recommended for the grant are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

The eligibility of States to receive this grant and the quantum of grant was decided by the Commission based on the gap between assessment of revenue and expenditure of the State. Assessed devolution for the financial year 2021-22 was also taken into account by the Commission.

The 15th Finance Commission has recommended a total Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant of ₹1.18-lakh crore to the 17 States in the financial year 2021-22. The grant is released to the States in 12 monthly installments.