Cabinet approves creation of posts for 16th Finance Commission

The Union Cabinet on Thursday met and approved the creation of three posts at the level of Joint Secretary i.e. two posts of Joint Secretary and one post of Economic Adviser for the Sixteenth Finance Commission.

"The newly created posts are required to assist the Commission in carrying out its functions. All other posts in the Commission have already been created as per the delegated powers," the cabinet said in a media release.

The centre, in December 2023, had appointed former Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog Arvind Panagariya, to head the 16th Finance Commission. Ritwik R Pandey was chosen as the secretary of the commission, while the names of other members will be notified separately, the government had siad.


The Finance Commission is a constitutional body responsible for deciding how tax revenues are divided between the central government and the states.

It proposes the allocation of taxes and grants, and operates within the guidelines set by the finance ministry for a period of five years.

The recommendations of the sixteenth Finance Commission will be in effect from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031.

As per Article 280 of the Constitution, the commission is required to make recommendations on the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the centre and the states. The commission also suggests the principles which should govern the grants in aid of the revenues of the states out of the consolidated fund of India.

As for the Fifteenth finance commission, it was chaired by N.K. Singh and members included Shaktikanta Das, Ashok Lahiri, Ramesh Chand and Anoop Singh.