The newly set-up Fifteenth Finance Commission held its first meeting on Monday having preliminary discussions on its terms of reference.

“It was an introductory meeting where they discussed various issues,” said an official source.

The panel, headed by former Revenue Secretary and former Rajya Sabha MP NK Singh also met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

“The Commission felt that wide-ranging consultations with all stakeholders, including various Ministries of the Union Government, all State governments, local bodies, panchayats and political parties of each State government, needed to be expeditiously initiated,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

With its wide ranging terms of reference, the panel will also undertake analytical research and interact with think tanks and domain experts.

While the Finance Ministry has already sought applications from interested officials to work in the Finance Commission, the panel also approved the setting-up of its office at Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan on Janpath in New Delhi.

The Finance Commission was set up on November 27 with former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, and adjunct professor of Georgetown University Anoop Singh as its full-time members and Chairman of Bandhan Bank Ashok Lahiri and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand as part-time members.

A statutory body under Article 280(1) of the Constitution, it will prescribe the formula for devolution of taxes between the Centre and States for five years commencing on April 1, 2020. It is expected to submit its report by October 30, 2019.

It will review the impact of the goods and services tax and also the current status of finance, deficit, debt levels, cash balances and fiscal discipline efforts of the Union and the States and suggest a fresh fiscal consolidation roadmap.

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