The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a six-member advisory committee to recommend measures to increase the state’s revenue. The panel will be headed by economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
The move follows the state’s recent white paper on public finances, which noted a decline in key revenue streams such as the state’s own tax revenue and income from mines and minerals. The report also highlighted the state’s debt position of about Rs 10 lakh crore.
Ahluwalia, a former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and a former member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, will lead the committee. Members include Krishnan (head of the economics department at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, Delhi), Arvind Modi (economist in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund), Najib Shah (former chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs), Siddiq (Finance Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu) and Suresh Babu (member, Madras Institute of Development Studies).
The committee will advise on steps to improve both tax and non-tax revenues, and recommend measures to curb irregularities, tax evasion and administrative lapses in revenue-collecting departments. It has been asked to submit its report within three months.
