Grant of ₹ 685.80 crore released to Urban Local Bodies(ULBs)

 ₹ 2,516.73 crore  released to support ULBs in 2021-22

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released an amount of Rs. 685.80 crore to 4 States for providing grants to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).  Out of this, an amount of ₹ 494 crore has been released to Uttar Pradesh, ₹ 110.20 crore to Gujarat, ₹ 74.80 crore to Jharkhand and ₹ 6.80 crore to Mizoram.

Grants for Urban Local Bodies have been released as per the recommendations of the 15^th Finance Commission.  They are aimed at improving basic civic services including fulfilling location specific felt needs. These grants are intended for smaller (Non-Million Plus) cities including cantonment Boards.  

The 15^th Finance Commission 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). Out of the 15^th Finance Commission recommended grants for Non-Million Plus cities, 50% is basic (untied) and the remaining 50% as tied grant. 

Basic grants (untied) can be utilised for location specific felt needs except for salary or other establishment expenditure. The tied grants are to be utilized for (a) drinking water (including rainwater harvesting and recycling) and (b) solid waste management.

The grants are meant to ensure provision of additional funds to urban local bodies over and above the funds allocated by the Centre and the State for sanitation and drinking water under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

The States are required to transfer the grants to the ULBs within 10 working days of receipt from the Union Government.  Any delay beyond 10 working days requires the State Governments to release the grants with interest. 

State-wise amount of Urban Local Bodies Grants released in 2021-22

Sl. No.	State	Total amount released during 2021-22 (Rs. in crore)
1	Goa	5.40
2	Gujarat	110.20
3	Haryana	77.40
4	Himachal Pradesh	51.75
5	Jharkhand	74.80
6	Karnataka	150.00
7	Madhya Pradesh	199.60
8	Mizoram	6.80
9	Odisha	164.40
10	Punjab	74.00
11	Rajasthan	196.20
12	Tamil Nadu	295.25
13	Telangana	50.43
14	Uttar Pradesh	851.00
15	West Bengal	209.50
	Total	2,516.73

ULB grant conditions: half untied for local needs, half tied to drinking water and solid waste, transfer within ten days. Grants to Non Million Plus Urban Local Bodies under the 15th Finance Commission are split 50% basic (untied) - not for salaries or establishment costs - and 50% tied for drinking water (including rainwater harvesting and recycling) and solid waste management. These grants are additional to funds under Centrally Sponsored Schemes. States must transfer funds to ULBs within 10 working days of receipt from the Union Government; delays require release with interest. The press release lists State wise amounts released in 2021-22.