The Fiscal Settlement.

3 essays

Three essays on where money sits in the Indian federation and where it is spent. The Union settles with the states; the states settle with their cities; and a set of states raise almost nothing at all. Read together they describe one architecture, not three problems.

Read in order

The Forty-One Percent Illusion — State Finances After the Sixteenth CommissionUnion to states · 2 July 2026
Cities Without Money — The Third Tier and the Capacity It LacksStates to cities · 7 May 2026
Sixty-Eight Paise in the RupeeThe dependent states · 8 March 2026

All essays Institutions & Reform Political Economy Work & Livelihoods State Capacity Federalism & the Northeast Governance & Delivery Resources & Climate Justice & Liberty Health & Human Development Series

01Political Economy · SeriesThe Forty-One Percent Illusion — State Finances After the Sixteenth CommissionThe 16th Finance Commission held devolution at 41% and discontinued revenue deficit grants. Why a headline of continuity conceals the tightest state fiscal settlement in a decade.2 JULY 2026 02State Capacity · SeriesCities Without Money — The Third Tier and the Capacity It LacksIndia's cities produce roughly 60% of GDP and raise 0.6% of it. The Sixteenth Commission has now sent them ₹3.6 lakh crore against conditions most cannot yet meet.7 MAY 2026 03Federalism & the Northeast · SeriesSixty-Eight Paise in the RupeeNorth-eastern and Himalayan states raise roughly a third of what they spend. The problem is not the dependence — it is that most of the money arrives with someone else’s conditions attached.8 MARCH 2026