New Delhi, Mar 10 (IANS): The Finance Ministry on Wednesday released the 12th and final monthly instalment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) grant of Rs 6,194.09 crore to 14 states.

With the release of this instalment, a total amount of Rs 74,340 crore has been given to the eligible states as PDRD grant in the current financial year.

The PDRD grants are provided to the states under Article 275 of the Constitution. The grants are released in monthly instalments as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission to meet the gap in revenue accounts of the states post devolution. The Commission has recommended PDRD grants for 14 states.

The eligibility of the 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 after taking into account the assessed devolution for the financial year 2020-21.

The 15th Finance Commission had recommended a total PDRD grant of Rs 74,340 crore to 14 states in the financial year 2020-21. The full amount recommended by the Commission to these 14 states has now been released by the Central government.

The states which were recommended to receive the grant included Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.