Bhubaneswar: The Union government has released over Rs 284 crore under the 15th Finance Commission Untied Grants for rural local bodies in three states, including Odisha, during the financial year 2025–26.
An official statement said on Tuesday that Odisha has been allocated Rs 240.8149 crore for 6,085 eligible Gram Panchayats and 63 eligible Block Panchayats. The amount has been released as part of the 1st instalment of Untied Grants of the current fiscal.
Similarly, Mizoram has received Rs 14.2761 crore for 827 eligible village councils as part of the 2023–24 grants while Tripura has been provided Rs 29.75 crore for 606 eligible Gram Panchayats, 35 eligible Block Panchayats, 8 eligible Zilla Parishads along with all 587 Village Committees and 40 eligible Block Advisory Committees of the state.
The Central government, through the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Jal Shakti, recommends release of XV-FC grants to states for rural local bodies (RLBs)/ Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
These allocated grants are recommended and released in 2 instalments in a financial year.
The Untied Grants will be utilised for location-specific felt needs, except for salaries and other establishment costs.
The Tied Grants can be used for the basic services of sanitation and maintenance of ODF status, and this should include management and treatment of household waste, and human excreta and fecal sludge management in particular and supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling.
It may be noted that the Centre had released Rs 436 crore in March 2025 as the second instalment of the Fifteenth Finance Commission grants for rural local bodies in Karnataka and Tripura for the financial year 2024–25, to strengthen local governance and drive rural transformation.