The sixth meeting of Advisory Council to the Fifteenth Finance Commission was held today. The meeting was chaired by Shri N.K. Singh, Chairman, XVFC and attended by the Members of the XVFC, Members of the Advisory Council, other special invitees and eminent scholars. The agenda of the meeting included the following.

1. Seeking the views of the participants on the report of the XV-FC for the year 2020-21, the formula for horizontal devolution of Central taxes and other recommendations contained in the Report.
2. Views on the outlook for nominal GDP growth for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26, tax buoyancy and other macro-economic parameters relevant for the commission for the aforesaid period.

 While discussing about the framework for vertical and horizontal devolution of taxes, the methodological innovations made in the Report were favourably commented upon. The options for nominal GDP growth and resource mobilization, as well as, the downsides and upsides to different possibilities therein were discussed in detail, particularly in the light of emerging global trends and patterns discernible in high-frequency, domestic indicators. The centrality of strengthening the administration and technology platform of GST in ensuring fiscal balance of the Centre and the States was also emphasised.

Apart from the Chairman, Members and the officers of the XVFC and the Members of the Advisory Council, namely, Dr. Indira Rajaraman, Dr. Arvind Virmani, Dr M. Govinda Rao, Dr Prachi Mishra, Dr Sudipto Mundle and Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the meeting was also attended by eminent bureaucrats and scholars like Dr. Bibek Debroy, Shri. Ratan P Watal, Shri Amitabh Kant, Shri. Atanu Chakraborty, Dr. T. V. Somanathan, Dr. Anantha Nageswaran, Dr. Shankar Acharya, Dr. Abhijit Sen, Dr. Ajit Mishra, Dr. Manoj Panda, Mr. Swaminathan A. Aiyar and Shri. T. N. Ninan.

Horizontal devolution of central taxes central to discussions, with GDP outlook and GST reform shaping resource allocation. The Advisory Council reviewed the XVFC report's recommendations, focussing on the formula for horizontal devolution of Central taxes, methodological innovations in vertical and horizontal devolution, and scenarios for nominal GDP growth and tax buoyancy for 2021-22 to 2025-26. The Council assessed resource mobilization options against global trends and domestic indicators and emphasised strengthening GST administration and its technology platform to support fiscal balance between the Centre and States.