The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) is organising a three-part Flagship Seminar series on March 8,15 and 22, to take a closer look at India’s public finances through some of the key themes and recommendations of the report of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

Part 1: India’s overall fiscal architecture

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The first seminar was on India’s overall fiscal architecture, in the context of the recently released Fifteenth Finance Commission’s report. NK Singh began proceedings with a comprehensive overview of the various structural issues in India’s federal structure, which have a bearing on its public finances. He linked these issues with various aspects of the commission’s report, highlighting the constraints under which it had to operate. Shankar Acharya, a member of the Twelfth Finance Commission, elaborated on this and posed questions to Mr Singh on the States’ share of vertical devolution, cesses, and the GST. Anoop Singh highlighted the overarching importance of the underlying fiscal architecture and of accurate fiscal statistics.

Speakers:

N.K. Singh
Chairman, Fifteenth Finance Commission. He has also served as Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Review Committee and as Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.

Anoop Singh
Distinguished Fellow, CSEP and Member, Fifteenth Finance Commission

Shankar Acharya
Honorary Professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)

Rakesh Mohan
President & Distinguished Fellow, CSEP

Part 2: Federalism and human capital

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The second seminar was on “Federalism and Human Capital”, which explored how India’s federal structure can be leveraged to improve India’s health and education outcomes.

Speakers:

Anoop Singh
Distinguished Fellow, CSEP and Member, Fifteenth Finance Commission

Yamini Aiyar
President and Chief Executive of the Centre for Policy Research

Prachi Mishra
Advisor, Research Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Distinguished Fellow, CSEP and former Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

Part 3: Regional inequities and implications for Federalism

The third seminar was on “Regional Inequities and Implications for Federalism”, and it will consider the disparities across different States in India and how to address them.

Speakers:

Anoop Singh
Distinguished Fellow, CSEP and Member, Fifteenth Finance Commission

Pronab Sen
Programme Director of the International Growth Centre’s India Programme and former Chairman of National Statistical Commission

Sajjid Chinoy
Chief India Economist, JP Morgan

Chinmay Tumbe
Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.