The Government of India has appointed former vice-chairman of NITI Aayog and Columbia University professor, Arvind Panagariya, as the chairman of the 16th Finance Commission.
- Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey has been appointed as the secretary to the Commission.
Key points
- The Finance Commission is constituted under article 280 of the Constitution of India.
- The 16th Finance Commission is expected to submit its report by October 31, 2025, covering a five-year period from April 1, 2026.
- Arvind Panagariya, currently a professor of economics and the Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian political economy at Columbia University, previously served as the first chairman of NITI Aayog from January 2015 to August 2017.
- During this period, he was also appointed as India’s G20 Sherpa.
The Commission shall make recommendations as to the following matters, namely:
- (i) The distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them under Chapter I, Part XII of the Constitution and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds;
- (ii) The principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India and the sums to be paid to the States by way of grants-in-aid of their revenues under article 275 of the Constitution for the purposes other than those specified in the provisos to clause (1) of that article; and
- (iii) The measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State.
