Government Names Arvind Panagariya As Chairman Of 16th Finance Commission

The government named former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya as the Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission on Sunday.

The secretary to the commission will be Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey, Joint Secretary in the finance ministry, the government announced in a notification.

“The President is pleased to constitute a Finance Commission with Dr Arvind Panagariya, former Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog and Professor, Columbia University, as the Chairman. Members of the Commission will be notified separately”, the notification reads.

The commission will deliver its report to the President by October 31, 2025, for the five years (2026-27 to 2030-31).

The Union Cabinet, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the 16th Finance Commission’s Terms of Reference (ToR) last month.

The commission would assess the current arrangements for financing disaster management activities involving the funds established under the Disaster Management Act of 2005, in addition to advocating tax devolution between the Centre and states and revenue augmentation strategies.

The Finance Commission is a constitutional authority that makes recommendations on financial ties between the central and the states.

The former 15th Finance Commission, led by NK Singh, suggested that states receive 41 percent of the Centre’s divisible revenue pool for the five-year period 2021 22 to 2025 26, which is the same proportion recommended by the 14th Finance Commission.

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