The 15th Finance Commission headed by N K Singh has recommended a revenue deficit grant of Rs 7,659 crore to cash-starved Punjab for the financial year 2020-21.
After Kerala and Himachal Pradesh, Punjab is placed third in terms of the amount of revenue deficit grant among 14 states. The Finance Commission had submitted its first report to the President in November last year.

In its interim report, the commission has recommended Rs 1,388 crore grants for rural local bodies and Rs 668 crore for urban local bodies. At the same time, Rs 660 crore has been recommended for the state disaster risk management fund. Out of this, Rs 165 crore would be the state government’s share. The commission has also recommended Rs 77 crore as grant for nutrition.

Under the grants to million plus cities, Ludhiana has got Rs .104 crore and Amritsar Rs 76 crore for air quality improvement and solid waste management for 2020-21.

The commission has been granted extension till October 2020 to submit its final report relating to period from 2021-22 trelating to period from 2021-22 to 2025-26.