Nagpur Shortlisted For Wastewater Projects Under 16th Finance Commission | Nagpur News
Nagpur: Two Maharashtra cities — Nagpur and Pune — are among the 22 shortlisted across the country for major wastewater management projects under the Sixteenth Finance Commission (FC-16), opening a potentially significant funding window for improving sewage, drainage and wastewater infrastructure.The Commission has recommended a Rs 56,100-crore Special Infrastructure Component (SIC) for comprehensive wastewater management projects in selected cities during 2026-27 to 2030-31. The component covers cities with a population of between 10 lakh and 40 lakh as per the 2011 Census.The selection does not mean that either city will automatically receive a fixed grant. The shortlisted cities will have to prepare comprehensive wastewater management proposals and meet the conditions prescribed under the Finance Commission framework before funds can be released, a senior official from NMC’s public health department told TOI.The Commission’s recommendation is aimed at addressing the growing need to upgrade urban drainage and wastewater infrastructure in middle-level cities.For Nagpur, the additional funding window comes at a time when the civic body is already undertaking major sewerage and river pollution-control projects. “NMC has started implementing Rs900-crore AMRUT 2.0 project for strengthening sewerage networks in south-west and south Nagpur. Besides, NMC has begun the process to implement Rs 1,927-crore Nag River Pollution Abatement project,” the official said.Apart from the special infrastructure component, FC-16 has recommended Rs3,56,257 crore for urban local bodies for 2026-27 to 2030-31. This comprises Rs 2,32,125 crore in basic grants, Rs 58,032 crore in performance grants, Rs 56,100 crore under the Special Infrastructure Component and Rs 10,000 crore as urbanisation premium.The basic grant is divided equally between untied and tied grants. The tied component is earmarked for sanitation, solid waste management and/or water management. The regular FC-16 allocation is determined at the state level, with distribution among urban local bodies in Maharashtra to be based on the State Finance Commission’s recommendations.NMC’s ability to access the new grants will, however, depend on compliance with several conditions, including having a duly constituted elected body and making provisional and audited accounts publicly available. The guidelines also require urban local bodies to publish 28 Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs) before recommendations for grant release.The new framework has linked future FC-16 releases to utilisation of previous Finance Commission grants. There must be no unspent balance from the 14th Finance Commission. From 2028-29, ULBs with an unspent FC-15 balance exceeding 10% of the instalment under consideration will not be eligible for further grants. From 2029-30 onwards, ULBs will need to have zero unspent FC-15 balance to receive allocations.The Commission has also mandated greater financial and service-delivery accountability, including publication of 28 service-level benchmarks, PFMS integration and utilisation of at least 50% of grants released in the previous year for subsequent instalments.
