‘Cooperative federalism key to financing Viksit Bharat’: Finance Commission chairman NK Singh
Singh called for a new Centre-state economic compact and urged states to compete on development goals while sharing their policy experience.
Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh emphasized the importance of cooperative federalism in financing India's journey towards Viksit Bharat. Singh, who is also the president and life trustee of the Institute of Economic Growth, delivered a keynote address at a conference of state finance ministers and finance secretaries. He stressed the need for higher savings, stronger private investments, and prudent state finances to support the financing strategy.
Singh advocated for a new center-state economic compact to implement this strategy and urged states to engage in healthy competition to achieve development goals. The Finance Commission's work aims to enhance "cooperative federalism" and move towards "competitive federalism," where states can compete meaningfully on development parameters and share each other's experiences.
Singh highlighted the need to boost domestic savings, noting that India's gross domestic savings rate is currently around 34% of GDP, far below the historical peak of 38%. He also emphasized the crucial role of private capital in achieving the Viksit Bharat goal, stating that public finance must seek to crowd in private capital.
The conference, organized by the Ministry of Finance, aims to discuss financing challenges and policy priorities for India's development journey, focusing on macroeconomic overview, financing agricultural transformation, financing the energy transition, and other key areas.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
