15th Finance Commission submits Report for 2021-26 to President

The Fifteenth Finance Commission (XVFC), led by Chairman NK Singh, submitted its report for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 to the President of India, a Govt statement said here on Monday.

Members of the Commission, Ajay Narayan Jha, Prof Anoop Singh, Dr Ashok Lahiri & Dr Ramesh Chand along with Secretary to the Commission, Arvind Mehta accompanied the Chairman to submit the report, titled "Finance Commission in Covid Times", to the President.

The Commission was mandated to give its recommendation for 5 years, from 2021-22 to 2025-26, by Oct 30, 2020.

The recommendations revolved around unique & wide-ranging issues such as vertical & horizontal tax devolution, local Govt grants, disaster management grant, the Commission was also asked to examine & recommend performance incentives for states in many areas like power sector, adoption of DBT & solid waste management.

The Statement said that "The Commission was also asked to examine whether a separate mechanism for funding of defence & internal security ought to be set up & if so how such a mechanism could be operationalised".

The report has been organised in four volumes, out of which Volume 1 & 2, contain the main report & the accompanying annexes.

Volume 3 is devoted to the Union Govt and examines key departments in greater depth, with the medium-term challenges & the roadmap ahead, while the Volume 4 is entirely devoted to the states, including finances of each state in great depth & state-specific considerations to address the key challenges that individual states face.

The report will be available in the public domain once it is tabled in the Parliament by the Centre along with explanatory memorandum/action taken report on the recommendations contained in the report.
Last year, the Commission had submitted its report containing recommendations for the year 2020-21, which was accepted by the Union Government and tabled in the Parliament on Jan 30, 2020.

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