The Department of Expenditure of the Ministry of Finance today released an amount of Rs. 1,764 crore to 4 states for providing Million Plus Cities/Urban Agglomerations grants. The states to which the grants have been released today are Andhra Pradesh (Rs 136 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 109 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 799 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 720 crore).
The grants released are for Million Plus Cities / Urban Agglomerations (MPC/UAs) Vijayawada & Visakhapatnam in the State of Andhra Pradesh, Durg Bhilainagar & Raipur in the State of Chhattisgarh, Aurangabad, Greater Mumbai, Nagpur Nashik, Pune & Vasai- Virar City in the State of Maharashtra and Agra, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut & Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The 15th Finance Commission (15th FC) in its report for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 has divided urban local bodies into two categories: (a) urban agglomerations/million-plus cities (except Delhi and Srinagar) and (b) all other cities and municipalities with less than one million inhabitants (cities with no more than one million). 15. FC recommended separate grants for them. Of the total grants recommended by the Commission for Million Plus Cities/Urban Agglomerations (MPCs/UAs), more than 2/3 is recommended for the solid waste management component and the remaining 1/3 is allocated for ambient air quality.
15. The FC recommended solid waste management grant component of the Million Plus Cities Challenge Fund for Million-Plus cities/UAs is intended to be used to improve drinking water quality and supply (including stormwater capture and recycling), sanitation, and achieve Star Ratings from city local authorities in Solid Waste Management in accordance with the approved City Action Plan (CAP) and the commitments made in the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed for this purpose.
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