The Ministry of Finance released ₹44,000 crore to States and Union Territories with legislatures under the back-to-back loan facility to address the shortfall in GST compensation arising from inadequate collections in the Compensation Cess Fund. With this release, the total amount disbursed in FY 2021–22 under this special arrangement reached ₹1.59 lakh crore, including earlier releases of ₹75,000 crore in July 2021 and ₹40,000 crore in October 2021. The decision follows the resolution of the 43rd GST Council meeting, which approved Centre-led borrowing to bridge the compensation gap on terms similar to those adopted in FY 2020–21. This support is in addition to the regular bi-monthly GST compensation released from actual cess collections and is expected to ensure that total compensation to States in FY 2021–22 exceeds ₹2.59 lakh crore. The release was funded through Government of India borrowings in five-year securities at a weighted average yield of 5.69 percent, without necessitating any additional market borrowing. The funds are intended to help States and Union Territories plan and sustain public expenditure, particularly for strengthening health infrastructure and accelerating capital and development projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A detailed State-wise distribution of the released amount was appended to the press release.