RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar appointed part-time member of sixteenth Finance Fee

The Ministry of Finance on Saturday (June 7) introduced the appointment of Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI) Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar as a part-time member of the sixteenth Finance Fee (XVIFC). His appointment comes within the wake of the resignation of former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, who stepped down from the Fee because of private causes.

In line with an official assertion, Sankar will function a part-time member from the date he assumes cost till the submission of the Fee’s report or October 31, 2025, whichever is earlier.

The sixteenth Finance Fee, constituted by the Authorities of India on December 31, 2023, is chaired by Arvind Panagariya, former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog. The Fee additionally contains full-time members Annie George Mathew (retired bureaucrat) and economist Manoj Panda, with SBI Group Chief Financial Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh serving as one other part-time member. Ritvik Pandey serves as Secretary to the Fee, supported by two Joint Secretaries and one Financial Advisor.

The Fee is remitted to submit its suggestions by October 31, 2025, which is able to cowl the five-year interval starting April 1, 2026. Its key duties embody recommending the distribution of tax revenues between the Centre and states, suggesting measures to boost state revenues, and reviewing the fiscal preparations for catastrophe administration funding beneath the Catastrophe Administration Act, 2005.

The Finance Fee is a constitutional physique established beneath Article 280 of the Indian Structure to supply a framework for fiscal federalism. The earlier (fifteenth) Finance Fee, chaired by NK Singh, advisable a 41 per cent share of the divisible tax pool to states for the interval 2021–2026, persevering with the identical devolution fee because the 14th Finance Fee led by YV Reddy.

Sankar’s appointment to sixteenth Finance Fee: A profile of expertise and institutional data

T Rabi Sankar, at the moment serving as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI), has been appointed as a part-time member of the sixteenth Finance Fee. His inclusion comes at a time of management reshuffle throughout the Fee, following the resignation of former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha because of private causes.

Sankar brings with him in depth expertise in central banking, having joined the RBI in 1990. All through his profession, he has held a number of key roles throughout the establishment. Previous to his elevation as Deputy Governor in 2021, he served as Govt Director, overseeing departments similar to Fee and Settlement Techniques, Data Know-how, FinTech, and Threat Monitoring.

In his present capability as Deputy Governor, Sankar is accountable for a number of important portfolios, together with the FinTech Division, Monetary Markets Operations Division, and the Monetary Markets Regulation Division. He has additionally been instrumental within the improvement and launch of the Central Financial institution Digital Foreign money (CBDC) in India, positioning the RBI on the forefront of digital monetary innovation.

In April 2025, the Appointments Committee of the Cupboard (ACC) accepted his reappointment as Deputy Governor for a one-year time period.

The sixteenth Finance Fee, constituted in December 2023 and chaired by economist Arvind Panagariya, is tasked with making suggestions on the distribution of the online proceeds of taxes between the Union and the States, in addition to among the many States themselves. The Fee is a constitutional physique established beneath Article 280 of the Indian Structure.

Key options of the Fee’s mandate embody addressing vertical imbalances between the taxation powers and expenditure duties of the Centre and States, and making certain the equalisation of public service requirements throughout states.