Cabinet extends term of 15th Finance Commission

The Centre on Wednesday extended the 15th Finance Commission’s term by a year. The Narendra Modi government also asked the commission to submit an interim report for the 2020-’21 financial year, and a full report for the 2021-’22 to 2025-’26 financial years.

“The extension of the term will enable the commission to examine various comparable estimates for financial projections, in view of reforms and the new realities to finalise its recommendations for the period 2020-2026,” the government said in a press statement.

The Centre said the extension would help it and state governments with medium-term resource planning. The decision does not run afoul of the Constitution, Business Standard quoted unidentified officials as saying. “The Constitution just mandates that every five years a Finance Commission has to be set up,” said an official. “Today’s Cabinet decision is not in contravention of that.”