15th Finance Commission submits report to President
New Delhi: The 15th Finance Commission on Monday submitted its recommendations on the ratio in which taxes are to be divided between the Centre and states over the next five years.
The panel, headed by former bureaucrat N K Singh, submitted its report titled 'Finance Commission in Covid Times' to President Ram Nath Kovind, an official statement said.
Finance Commission is a constitutional body that gives suggestions on Centre-state financial relations.
The 15th Finance Commission submitted two reports - the first report consisted of recommendations for the financial year 2020-21 and the final report - submitted on Monday - with recommendations for 2021-26.
While the 14th Finance Commission had recommended that states be given 42 per cent of all taxes, the present Commission had for 2020-21 recommended a total devolution of Rs 8,55,176 crore to states, which is 41 per cent of the divisible pool of taxes.
The recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission for period 2021-22 to 2025-26 haven't been disclosed as the report is yet to be tabled in Parliament.
It is likely that the report along with an action-taken report is presented in the ensuing session of Parliament.
The 14th Finance Commission had increased states' share by 10 percentage points to 42 per cent and it remains to be seen what its successor would do considering the Centre is hard-pressed for funds at a time when it is looking to boost the economy through expenditure.
Singh along with other members of the Commission - Ajay Narayan Jha, Anoop Singh, Ashok Lahiri and Ramesh Chand - presented the report to the President.
The "15th Finance Commission led by Chairman N K Singh, today submitted its report for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 to the Hon'ble President of India," an official statement said.
As per the terms of reference (ToR), the Commission was mandated to give its recommendations for five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The Commission was asked to give its recommendations on wide-ranging issues. Apart from the vertical and horizontal tax devolution, local government grants, disaster management grant, it was also asked to examine and recommend performance incentives for states in many areas like power sector, adoption of direct benefit transfer, solid waste management etc.
The Commission was also asked to examine whether a separate mechanism for funding of defence and internal security ought to be set up and if so how such a mechanism could be operationalised.
The Commission has sought to address all its ToRs in this report to the Union government, the statement added.
This report has been organised in four volumes. Volume I and II, as in the past, contain the main report and the accompanying annexes.
Volume III is devoted to the Union Government and examines key departments in greater depth, with the medium-term challenges and the road map ahead. Volume IV is entirely devoted to states.
The Commission has analysed the finances of each state in great depth and has come up with state-specific considerations to address the key challenges that individual states face, the statement added.
The report would be made public after it is tabled in Parliament by the government. The cover and title of the report are also unique and the use of scales on the cover indicates the balance between the states and the Union, it said.
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Tata-Airbus helicopter facility shining example of partnership in high-end manufacturing: Rajnath
Kolar (Karnataka) (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the investment into H-125 helicopter programme is "anticipated" to cross Rs 1000 crore, and create a number of jobs, and called it a "shining example" of mutually beneficial partnership with friendly countries in high-end manufacturing sector.
He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the final assembly line of H-125 helicopters here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron virtually inaugurated the Airbus H125 light utility helicopter Final Assembly Line at Tata‑Airbus' facility at Vemagal Industrial Area in this district from Mumbai.
Singh, accompanied by his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin, congratulated Tata Advanced System and Airbus Helicopters on the inauguration of the project and recalled their earlier association as well.
"This project is a shining example of mutually beneficial partnership with friendly countries in high-end manufacturing sector," Singh said.
"The H-125 program investment is anticipated to exceed Rs 1000 crore and is likely to create direct and indirect employment opportunities for our skilled and hard working younger generation," he said.
Renowned for its exceptional reliability, versatility, and outstanding performance under diverse operating conditions, the H-125 has proven to be one of the most effective and trusted single-engine helicopters globally, he said.
He recalled that Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus had earlier joined hands for a project in Gujarat's Vadodara for the C-295 aircraft, which he described as a symbol of how Tata in particular and India in general can collaborate with international OEMs to contribute to the vision of a stronger India.
The Defence minister said "Make in India" and self-reliance have been the cornerstone of India's economic policy since 2014.
Singh recalled that this policy initiative was launched by PM Modi, under which India is committed to achieving self-reliance in critical technology and the manufacturing of high-end products and equipment through mutually beneficial partnerships.
"For more than a decade, India has been charting industrial development through large-scale infrastructure building, capital infusion in important sectors through a number of incentive schemes on the one hand, and providing a level playing field for facilitating investment on the other," he said.
He added that it has also been the government's focus to support small and medium industries and strengthen the startup ecosystem in particular. Overall, the focus has been on holistic industrial development, which not only caters to domestic demand but also addresses the needs of other countries.
Highlighting reforms in the defence sector, Singh said these measures have augmented the contribution of the private sector in the defence industrial ecosystem.
According to him, historically, Indian defence production was largely public sector-oriented due to requirements of high capital investment and long gestation periods, resulting in the private sector's contribution being far less than desired.
However, with reforms such as the corporatisation of ordnance factories, establishment of defence industrial corridors, and other initiatives to raise the private sector's share in total defence production, it now stands at almost a quarter of the country's total defence production.
Defence exports have also increased manifold, placing India among the top exporters in the world, he said.
Singh said the growth trajectory has given a massive boost to MSMEs and ancillary sectors, which have grown to more than 16,000 in number, with many foreign companies sourcing components from Indian MSMEs.
He invited companies to deepen the partnership through meaningful technology transfer and offer platforms to meet the security needs of other countries as well.
Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, who also attended the event said the H125 final assembly line set up by Tata and Airbus marks a defining moment for India's aerospace sector, calling it "a proud symbol of rising confidence in India's high-precision aerospace capabilities."
He described defence and civil aviation as "two strategic pillars of the Indo-French partnership" and said the new facility would reinforce "a single integrated aerospace ecosystem" by assembling both civil and defence variants.
Noting that India has risen from the 10th to the third largest civil aviation market in just 11 years, Naidu asserted that the country now has "the market, the export potential, the policy ecosystem, the skilled workforce and the strategic global partnerships to emerge as a rotary-wing manufacturing hub".
"The future of rotary aviation in South Asia will be designed, manufactured, certified, maintained and exported from India," he said, adding that the country is "not just flying high, but flying past all horizons" under the Make in India and Viksit Bharat 2047 visions.
Tata Advanced Systems CEO and MD Sukaran Singh said in this facility here, "we will start building helicopters without any government or defense orders."
"However, we will be ready to supply the defense forces as and when they want. The first helicopter will fly out this facility by mid 2027."
