India, Feb. 4 -- Fiscal year 2026-27 marks the beginning of the five-year period for awards of the 16th Finance Commission (FC). The key takeaways from the 16th FC awards - unchanged vertical tax devolution share of 41% and changes in its horizontal distribution across states - have been already reported. But the beginning of a new FC award period also calls for a larger explanation of the fiscal federalism framework in India and the role played by FC in it. This two-part series will do this. The first part will explain the importance of tax devolution across and among states and the second part will look at changes in this arrangement over various FCs.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Hindustan Times....