Solution

The Ministry of Finance released Rs 7,183.42 crore as a revenue deficit grant to 14 states, including West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Nagaland. This is the seventh installment, out of the total 12 equated installments, of the post-devolution revenue deficit grant for the financial year 2022-23. After the release of the latest installment, the total grant released in the current fiscal so far has gone up to Rs 50,283.92 crores. The 15th Finance Commission has allocated a total sum of Rs 3 trillion over a period of five years, FY22-FY26. For this fiscal, 14 states have been recommended, excluding Haryana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. In the seventh installment granted to the states in October, West Bengal and Kerala receive the maximum chunk of Rs 1132.25 crore and Rs 1097.83 crore respectively. Sikkim received the lowest amount – Rs 36.67 crore – in the grant, followed by Meghalaya, which got Rs 86.08 crore in the grant.