We hosted the third of CSEP’s three-part Flagship Seminar series that takes a closer look at India’s public finances through some of the key themes and recommendations of the report of the Fifteenth Finance Commission. The third seminar featured Pronab Sen, Programme Director of the International Growth Centre’s India Programme and former Chairman of National Statistical Commission on the subject of “Regional Inequities and Implications for Federalism”.

Watch | Part I on India’s Overall Fiscal Architecture

Watch | Part 2 on Federalism and human capital

Abstract: India has grown rapidly, and State-level per capita income has risen over the decades. However, States’ per capita incomes have not converged over time, income disparities have widened, and this trend is likely being exacerbated during the pandemic. Why has India’s strong growth not benefited the states more evenly and, looking ahead, what can be done to achieve more inclusive and sustainable growth as India builds back after the pandemic? Differences in States’ policies and economic structures may be the main drivers of the disparities across Indian states, but transfers by the Centre have played a major role in trying to meet the differentiated needs of Indian states. Does this pattern need to change, and what are the implications for federalism? Can more be done by the Finance Commission in the horizontal sharing of resources between states, or do States need to play a greater role in addressing the regional factors, including migration, that are the drivers of disparities?

Speaker’s Bio:

Pronab Sen is the Programme Director of the International Growth Centre’s India Programme. He has also served as the Chairman of the National Statistical Commission of India, the Principal Economic Adviser, Power and Energy, at the Planning Commission of India, the first Chief Statistician of India, and Secretary in the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India. As a representative of the Planning Commission, he was the principal author and coordinator of the Ninth and Tenth Five Year Plans, and of the Mid-term Appraisals of the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Five Year Plans.

Discussants:

Sajjid Chinoy: Sajjid Z. Chinoy is J.P. Morgan’s Chief India Economist and a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. He served as a member of the Advisory Council to the Fifteenth Finance Commission and has previously served on several RBI committees and task-forces, including the RBI’s “Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework” that proposed inflation targeting in 2014. He was a consultant to the FRBM Review Committee that proposed a new fiscal anchor in India in 2016.  He has been ranked by Asset Magazine as one of the best individuals in fixed income research in India for every year since 2014. Sajjid has authored several publications on the Indian economy including co-editing a book on Indian economic reform. He has previously worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and McKinsey & Company.

Chinmay Tumbe: Chinmay Tumbe is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Business School, an Assistant Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence. He has also served as a member of the Working Group on Migration constituted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India. He is the author of two books, India Moving: A History of Migration (2018) and The Age of Pandemics, 1817-1920 (2020). His research on migration studies, urban economics, and business and economic history has featured in journals, newspapers, and policy portals.

Moderator:

Anoop Singh is currently a Distinguished Fellow at CSEP, and was a Member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission. Previously, at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), his appointments included being Director of the Asia Pacific and Western Hemisphere Departments. He has also been Special Adviser to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He has taught at Georgetown University in Washington DC as an Adjunct Professor and has worked and written extensively on macroeconomic, surveillance, and crisis management issues.

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.