Finance commission forms 5-member advisory panel

The Sixteenth Finance Commission, chaired by Arvind Panagariya, has established a five-member advisory council to provide guidance on the Terms of Reference (ToR), assist in the preparation of research papers, and help broaden the Commission’s scope.

 

This announcement was made in a statement released by the Finance Ministry on Tuesday.

 

The council will be convened by Poonam Gupta, Director General of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

 

The other members of the panel include; DK Srivastava, Chief Policy Advisor at EY, Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist at Axis Bank, part-time Chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and part-time member of EAC-PM, Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC and Rahul Bajoria, Head of India and ASEAN economic research at Bank of America.

 

The advisory council's mandate includes broadening the Commission's ambit by integrating national and international best practices on fiscal devolution and enhancing the quality, reach, and enforcement of its recommendations.

 

The council will also provide advice on any of the ToR or related subjects of relevance, assist in the preparation of research papers, and monitor or assess studies commissioned by the Finance Commission to deepen its understanding of relevant issues.