News Summary

• The balance of power between the Centre and states under India’s constitutional federalism has been tilting towards greater centralization.
• The 16th Finance Commission report is the latest in a long list of examples where existing systems have been upended in an attempt to centralize powers in Delhi.
• At its core is a decision to keep the overall devolution ratio—a percentage of the tax from the central ‘divisible’ pool that the Centre has to share with states—for the next five years unchanged.