The Punjab Government is awaiting the release of the first instalment of rural local body (RLB) grants under the 16th Finance Commission to strengthen rural infrastructure. The instalment, due in June, has been delayed as the Union Ministries of Panchayati Raj and Jal Shakti are still finalising modalities.Official sources said a meeting was scheduled to be held in Delhi on Thursday between state officials and the Ministry of Jal Shakti’s Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation to set the process in motion.Punjab has been allocated Rs 8,486 crore for 2026-27 to 2030-31, representing 1.95 per cent of the total grant. In 2026-27, the state is to receive Rs 1,090 crore as the basic component. In 2027-28, it will get Rs 1,210 crore as basic and Rs 180 crore as performance component. This will rise to Rs 1,343 crore basic and Rs 454 crore performance in 2028-29, Rs 1,491 crore basic and Rs 504 crore performance in 2029-30, and Rs 1,655 crore basic with Rs 559 crore performance component in 2030-31.In a letter to the Chief Secretary on June 10, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj said grants would be released once mandatory conditions were met. These include uploading provisional and audited accounts online, ensuring duly elected rural local bodies, constituting a state finance commission, tabling its action-taken report in the legislature and fully utilising unspent balances of earlier such funds.A senior official said most conditions had already been met. “We just have to constitute the new state finance commission, which will be done soon. Punjab is not the only state awaiting release. We expect funds in the second quarter of this fiscal,” he said. The state has formed a high-level monitoring committee headed by the chief secretary to oversee utilisation. The Sixth State Finance Commission, led by former Chief Secretary KR Lakhanpal, ended its term in March 2022. Its fiscal devolution framework covered 2021-22 to 2025-26.