Centre releases over Rs 6000 crore to 14 states; Rs 326.41 cr for Nagaland

New Delhi, May 11 (MExN): The Ministry of Finance on May 11 released a total of Rs 6,195.08 crore to 14 states, including Nagaland, providing them additional recourse to address the situation arising out COVID-19 pandemic on May 11.

Out of the total overall total, Nagaland’s share was Rs 32641.66 lakh (or Rs 326.41 crore).

 “The government on May 11, 2020 released Rs 6,195.08 crore to 14 states as the second equated monthly installment of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission,” informed the office the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet.

 “This would provide them additional resources during the Corona crisis,” it added.

The amount is release as “grant-in-aid to cover deficit on post devolution revenue account in 2020-21 as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission on monthly basis” to the 14 states in the month of May, stated a circular shared along with the tweet.  

Besides Nagaland, the list include Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Tripura. (see table)

The money has been released ahead of schedule and as a special dispensation to meet immediate funding needs of the state governments looking to restore economic activity and minimise losses to its citizens due to disruptions caused by the lockdown, IANS news agency reported.

Of the 14 states, the maximum grant-in-aid for May has gone to Kerala that has been given an amount of 1,276. 91 crore followed by Himachal Pradesh with revenue deficit grant of Rs 952.58 crore.

“Much of this money is expected to be used by states towards paying the salaries to their staff as sharp fall in tax collections in April has already put pressure on their accounts,” the (IANS) report added.