Gujarat government employees do not follow the central CCS (LTC) Rules. Their LTC (રજા પ્રવાસ રાહત) and hometown concession (વતન પ્રવાસ રાહત) run on Finance Department GRs, gathered into one consolidated GR dated 28 August 2015 and amended since. In short: you need one year of continuous service; LTC is counted in four-year calendar blocks; it lets you travel anywhere in India within 3,000 km each way; your train or flight class depends on your grade pay; and you can encash 10 days of earned leave with each LTC, 60 days in a whole career.
Everything below comes from the Gujarati GRs on the Finance Department website, cited by number and date.
Who is eligible for LTC in Gujarat
Para 14.0 of the consolidated GR applies it to state government employees whose GPF or NPS accounts are held by the state, panchayat employees, teaching and non-teaching staff of secondary and higher secondary schools, and all staff of grant-in-aid non-government schools, provided they are otherwise eligible. Para 1.0 then lists who does not get it:
- Employees who are not in full-time government service, or who are paid from contingencies.
- Anyone eligible for some other LTC scheme, including All India Services officers and central deputationists entitled to it under their own terms.
- Work-charged employees with less than three years of service.
- Employees (and their families) who have not completed one year of continuous service, and probationers who have not completed one year as probationers. If a block ends before they complete that year, earlier eligible service with the state can be counted.
- Contract appointees, and employees appointed on fixed pay under the Finance Department GR of 16 February 2006, for as long as they are on fixed pay.
Family (para 6.0) means the spouse living with you, legitimate or step children living with you and wholly dependent on you, and parents, sisters and minor brothers who live with you and are wholly dependent. Only one wife counts. 'Wholly dependent' in the GR means monthly income from all sources, including pension and relief, of no more than ₹500. Employees who joined on or after 1 April 1989 and have more than two living children do not get LTC; for those who joined earlier, all living children are covered. Family members need not travel with you; separate groups are allowed.
Try it on your numbersIn-Hand Salary CalculatorCTC to monthly take-home, with full breakupThe block years, and how many journeys
Para 2.0 says the block was two years when the scheme began in 1966-67 and has been four calendar years since 1980-83; in 2015 the 2012-2015 block was running, and a new block starts automatically when one ends. Counting on in fours (the 13 August 2024 GR names the 2020-23 block), the block running now is 2024-27. Each block is automatically extended by one year (the GR's example: 2012-2015 ran until December 2016), so 2024-27 can be used until 31 December 2028.
- LTC anywhere in India (Bharat Darshan): once in the four-year block, up to 3,000 km each way, 6,000 km return (para 4.0).
- Hometown concession: the GR calls it a benefit for the family and the employee once in four years (para 8.0(5)).
- If you take neither in the first two years of a block, both can be sanctioned together in the next two years, including the one-year extension (para 2.0(3)).
- An employee whose family lives away from the place of work can, instead of the four-yearly hometown concession for the family, go alone once every year to the hometown or the place where the family lives (para 8.0(5), as explained by the 13 August 2024 GR, with proof of where the family lives).
The GR does not print a single 'X journeys per block' line; the count above is how its paras 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 read together. If your office applies it differently, its reading prevails.
Hometown or anywhere in India
You must declare your hometown to the competent authority within six months of joining, with proof such as property there or residence before joining. If it was never recorded in your service book, your first posting place counts as hometown. Once fixed, it cannot be changed under any circumstances (para 7.0).
For LTC itself the destination is open. Since the GR of 23 April 2015 there is no 'direct and shortest route' condition: you can visit one place or several anywhere in India, as long as the total stays within 6,000 km. Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep are allowed; kilometres beyond the limit are deducted at the cheapest of the rail, air or ship fare. Travel abroad is not covered (para 8.0(1)).
Train or flight class by pay level
The class table was revised by the GR of 22 March 2016 and is written in 6th-pay grade pay; even the 2024 Vande Bharat GR still uses grade pay. The pay level column below is our mapping from Part A of the Gujarat Civil Services (Revision of Pay) Rules, 2016, where each level is tied to an old grade pay.
Levels 4 and 5 may take AC 2-tier if the train on the shortest route does not have their class. Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Vande Bharat rows apply only if both ends are directly on that train.
7600 and above
- Pay level (ROP 2016)
- Level 12 and above
- Ordinary trains / air
- Air economy on any airline, or rail AC First
- Rajdhani
- AC First
- Shatabdi / Vande Bharat
- Executive class
5400 to below 7600
- Pay level (ROP 2016)
- Levels 9, 10, 11
- Ordinary trains / air
- Rail AC First
- Rajdhani
- AC 2-tier
- Shatabdi / Vande Bharat
- AC Chair Car
4200 to below 5400
- Pay level (ROP 2016)
- Levels 6, 7, 8
- Ordinary trains / air
- AC 2-tier
- Rajdhani
- AC Chair Car (AC 3-tier if no chair car)
- Shatabdi / Vande Bharat
- AC Chair Car
2400 to below 4200
- Pay level (ROP 2016)
- Levels 4, 5
- Ordinary trains / air
- First Class / AC 3-tier / AC Chair Car
- Rajdhani
- AC Chair Car (AC 3-tier if no chair car)
- Shatabdi / Vande Bharat
- AC Chair Car
Below 2400
- Pay level (ROP 2016)
- Levels 1, 2, 3
- Ordinary trains / air
- Second Sleeper
- Rajdhani
- Not listed in the GR
- Shatabdi / Vande Bharat
- Not listed in the GR
| Grade pay (as in the GR) | Pay level (ROP 2016) | Ordinary trains / air | Rajdhani | Shatabdi / Vande Bharat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7600 and above | Level 12 and above | Air economy on any airline, or rail AC First | AC First | Executive class |
| 5400 to below 7600 | Levels 9, 10, 11 | Rail AC First | AC 2-tier | AC Chair Car |
| 4200 to below 5400 | Levels 6, 7, 8 | AC 2-tier | AC Chair Car (AC 3-tier if no chair car) | AC Chair Car |
| 2400 to below 4200 | Levels 4, 5 | First Class / AC 3-tier / AC Chair Car | AC Chair Car (AC 3-tier if no chair car) | AC Chair Car |
| Below 2400 | Levels 1, 2, 3 | Second Sleeper | Not listed in the GR | Not listed in the GR |
- Anyone may fly, even without air entitlement: you are paid the lower of the actual air fare and the rail fare of your class. Attach the original ticket or e-ticket and the boarding pass.
- Air claims are paid at the fare on the airline's own counter or website. A booking charge of up to ₹200 per ticket, or the agency's charge if lower, is allowed (GR of 10 May 2019).
- Government buses, including GSRTC, count for every level. AC buses are allowed from Level 9 up, AC taxis between places not on the railway only from Level 12 up, and Levels 1 to 3 are capped at the ordinary bus fare.
Regular rail travellers sometimes use a railway co-branded card such as the IRCTC SBI Card, which gives up to 10% value back as reward points on AC and chair-car tickets booked on the IRCTC app or website. It costs ₹500 + taxes a year, so it pays off only if you book often and pay the full bill every month; check the current terms on SBI Card's page. (affiliate link: PaisaTools may earn if you sign up; it doesn't change what we write)
Which leave you need
LTC goes with regular leave: earned, half-pay, commuted, extraordinary, casual or maternity leave (para 5.0). In vacation departments the vacation counts as leave. A Finance Department circular of 23 May 2018 adds that a public holiday is not a type of leave, so LTC cannot be sanctioned on public holidays alone, though holidays can be added before or after the leave. A journey started before midnight on the block's last day, or your retirement day, still counts.
Leave encashment with LTC: how many days
Para 8.0(17) of the consolidated GR allows encashment of up to 10 days of earned leave each time you avail LTC, and up to 60 days over your whole service. Husband and wife can both take it if both are government employees. It does not depend on the type or number of days of leave you take for the trip, and the days encashed are not deducted from the leave you can encash at retirement. (Rule 47 of the Gujarat Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 2002 had stricter conditions; the GR notes that the Finance Department GRs of 15 January 2010 and 2 February 2012 are final on this.)
The latest change is the GR of 29 February 2024: the 10 days are now paid on your basic pay under the 7th-pay Gujarat Civil Services (Revision of Pay) Rules, 2016, plus DA at the rate in force. Before it, allowances other than DA, including this one, were still being worked out on 6th-pay figures. It applies to LTC applications made on or after the GR's date.
An estimate: Level 6 cell 1 in the Gujarat pay matrix is ₹35,400. The Finance Department GR of 4 November 2026 sets DA at 63% from 1 July 2026, so DA is 35,400 × 63% = ₹22,302 and pay plus DA is ₹57,702. Neither GR prints the divisor; assuming your office divides the month by 30, 10 days come to 57,702 ÷ 30 × 10 = ₹19,234.
Work out leave encashment and its tax: Excel calculatorThe LTC advance and the claim
- Who: permanent employees, and temporary employees with more than one year of continuous service on the travel date (with a surety from a permanent employee). The controlling officer sanctions it (para 10.0).
- How much: up to four-fifths (80%) of the estimated government share for the return journey within the 3,000 km one-way limit; for a hometown trip, 80% of the estimated cost of the total distance. Example with an assumed estimate of ₹30,000: advance up to 30,000 × 80% = ₹24,000.
- When: up to 60 days before the journey if travelling by rail, 30 days if by road. A return-journey advance needs your leave or absence to be within three months (90 days); otherwise only the onward hometown leg is advanced.
- Settle it: submit the bill within one month of finishing the journey. If you don't, the advance is recovered with 2.5% penal interest from the date it was paid.
- No advance taken: the claim must be filed within one year of the return journey, or it is treated as forfeited (para 8.0(8)). Give the rail ticket number, place and date of purchase; original tickets for ST buses.
- False claims: refund plus twice the amount as penalty within a week, and a permanent bar from LTC (para 13.0).
'Gujarat LTC package': what the GRs actually cover
No Gujarat GR we found treats a tour package from IRCTC, a travel portal or anyone else as LTC. What the GRs do say about packages and agencies:
- Recognised travel agencies: since 23 April 2015 travel through an agency recognised by the state counts. The GR of 3 December 2015 defines that as an agency holding an 'LTC Approval Tour Operator' certificate from the Commissioner of Tourism.
- Fare only: the GR of 10 December 2015 notes that agencies charge different rates for the same tour and bundle lodging and boarding, and says the state means to pay only the fare for the 6,000 km. For an agency bus you get the lower of the fare actually paid and your entitled rail fare.
- GSRTC and other government buses are valid modes of travel for LTC (para 4.0(2)).
- The 'special cash package' (ખાસ રોકડ પેકેજ) of 22 December 2020 was a Covid-era option in place of travel, only for the 2016-19 block (extended to 31 March 2021), and expressly not for 2020-23. Notional fare was ₹20,000 per employee at grade pay 7600 and above and ₹6,000 below it, to be matched by spending on goods or services taxed at 12% GST or more.
Latest GR changes, newest first
- 13 August 2024: Vande Bharat Express added to the Shatabdi row (Executive class from grade pay 7600, AC Chair Car below it), from the start of block 2020-23; 'any place' in the yearly solo-trip rule clarified.
- 29 February 2024: 10-day encashment paid on 7th-pay basic plus current DA.
- 22 December 2020 and 5 February 2021: Covid special cash package for the 2016-19 block; the 2021 GR revised its GST bill condition and income-tax treatment.
- 10 May 2019: air claims at airline fare, booking charge up to ₹200 per ticket.
- 23 May 2018: no LTC on public holidays alone.
- 22 March 2016: travel-class tables revised; air entitlement now starts at grade pay 7600 (it was 10,000 in the 2015 GR), and Levels 6 to 8 (grade pay 4200 to 4600) moved up from AC 3-tier to AC 2-tier.
The Finance Department's GR list for its CH (service matters) branch shows no LTC GR after 13 August 2024 as of 7 November 2026.
Source: Gujarat Finance Department, GR list (CH branch): all LTC GRs from 1966 to 2024
What changes the answer for you
- Grade pay of your post: it, not your current basic, sets your class. Ask your office if your level maps to two grade pays (Levels 9 and 10 are both grade pay 5400).
- Tax: LTC money is reimbursement, but income-tax treats it like any salaried person's LTC. Whether it is tax-free depends on your regime; see our central LTC and LTA guide.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a GR for LTC for Gujarat government employees?
- Yes. The scheme runs on Finance Department GRs, the main one being the consolidated GR No. MSB-102013-142969-CH of 28 August 2015, amended on 22 March 2016, 13 August 2024 and others. There is no separate 'Gujarat Civil Services (LTC) Rules' book on the Finance Department's rules page.
- Can a fixed-pay employee in Gujarat take LTC?
- No. Para 1.0 of the consolidated GR excludes employees appointed on fixed pay under the GR of 16 February 2006 during their fixed-pay period.