HM Shah approves additional Rs 707 crore for flood-hit Assam, Gujarat

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah-led High-Level Committee (HLC) has approved Rs 707.97 crore of additional Central assistance to Assam and Gujarat, affected by floods, landslides during 2024, an official said on Tuesday.

This Central assistance has been provided from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), subject to an adjustment of 50 per cent of the opening balance for the year available in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the official said in a statement.

Out of the total amount of Rs 707.97 crore, Rs 313.69 crore has been approved for Assam and Rs 394.28 crore for Gujarat.

The High-Level Committee has also approved Rs 903.67 crore to Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan under the NDRF for Expansion and Modernisation of Fire Services.

A total outlay of Rs 903.67 crore will have Rs 676.33 crore as Central assistance. Out of the total amount of Rs 903.67 crore, Rs 117.19 crore has been approved for Haryana, Rs 397.54 crore for Madhya Pradesh and Rs 388.94 crore for Rajasthan.

This additional assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the states in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at the disposal of the states.

During the financial year 2025-26, the Central government has released Rs 13,603.20 crore to 27 states under SDRF and Rs 2,024.04 crore under NDRF to 12 states.

Additionally, Rs 4,571.30 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 21 states and Rs 372.09 crore from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to nine states have also been released.

The National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), constituted under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, supplements the SDRF of a state, in case of a disaster of severe nature, provided adequate funds are not available in the SDRF, according to the Ministry.

The allocation of funds under SDRF and NDRF is based on the recommendations of the successive Financial Commissions. For SDRF, the contribution is made by the Central government and state governments in the ratio of 75:25 to all states, except for the North-Eastern and Himalayan States, for which it is a 90:10 ratio, while in NDRF, the entire contribution to the fund comes from the Central government, the ministry said.

--IANS

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