New Delhi, Oct 14: The government has extended the tenure of the 16th Finance Commission by one month, setting the new deadline for submission of its report as November 30.
Constituted on December 31, 2023, the 16th Finance Commission is chaired by former NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya. Its primary mandate is to make recommendations on the distribution of taxes between the Centre and states for a five-year period starting April 1, 2026.
The Finance Ministry, in a notification dated October 10, stated that the report submission date has been extended to allow the commission additional time for its assessments.
The panel comprises four members and is supported by Secretary Ritvik Pandey, two joint secretaries, and an economic advisor. Full time members include retired bureaucrat Annie George Mathew and economist Manoj Panda, while SBI Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh and RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar serve as part-time members.
Besides advising on tax devolution and revenue augmentation measures, the commission will also review financing arrangements for disaster management initiatives under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The Finance Commission is a constitutional body tasked with guiding Centre-state financial relations. The previous 15th Finance Commission, led by NK Singh, recommended that states receive 41% of the divisible tax pool from 2021-22 to 2025-26, maintaining the same level suggested by the 14th Finance Commission under YV Reddy.