The government on Tuesday (8 June) released Rs 9,871 crore to 17 states as the third monthly instalment of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) grant for the financial year 2021-22.

With the release of third installment, a total amount of Rs 29,613 crore has been released in the first three months of the current financial year as PDRD grant to the states.

The third instalment of the PDRD grant was released on Tuesday by the Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance.

The Centre provides the PDRD 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, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday (9 June).

The states recommended for PDRD grant include 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 PDRD 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 ministry said.

The 15th Finance Commission has recommended a total PDRD Grant of Rs 1,18,452 crore to 17 states in the financial year 2021-22. The grant is released to the states in 12 monthly instalments, it added.