Data › The Union and the states
India, 2004-2026
The Union and the states
The Fiscal Centralisation Index and the four published fiscal ratios and two coded events it is built from.
Fiscal Centralisation Index, 0 to 1
23 of the 23 years have a published figure; the others are left empty.
Source and method
Constructed: mean of six components on a relative 0-1 scale. Four are published fiscal ratios, min-max normalised over the years each is published: the cess and surcharge share of gross tax revenue (15th Finance Commission Table 3.8 for 2011-2018; Union Receipt Budgets for 2019-2026), tax devolution as a share of gross tax revenue (16th Finance Commission Annexure 7.1; Budget at a Glance 2026-27), states' own revenue as a share of their revenue receipts (RBI Handbook 2025-26 Table 94) and non-Finance-Commission grants as a share of Union transfers (16th Finance Commission Annexure 7.1). Two are coded: GST from 2017 and the reform-linked borrowing conditions of 2020-21. Rebuilt from these published figures on 10 October 2026; see data/compute_indices.py
What the index is made of
The first four rows are published ratios; the last two are coded events. Each is scaled 0 to 1 over the years it is published, and the index is the average of the components available in a year. On the four published ratios alone the earlier period was slightly more centralised; the higher score after 2014 comes from the two coded components, GST and the borrowing conditions of 2020-21. The 2014 value is lifted by an accounting change, when centrally sponsored scheme funds began to flow through state budgets.
| Series | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cess and surcharge, % of gross tax revenue | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 10.4 | 11.7 | 12.4 | 13.5 | 12.2 | 13.5 | 13.9 | 19.9 | 17.5 | 24.4 | 21.8 | 20.4 | 18.6 | 18.0 | 16.4 | 14.3 |
| Devolution to states, % of gross tax revenue | 25.8 | 25.7 | 25.4 | 25.5 | 26.6 | 26.4 | 27.7 | 28.8 | 28.1 | 27.9 | 27.1 | 34.8 | 35.4 | 31.5 | 35.9 | 32.4 | 29.4 | 32.6 | 31.1 | 32.6 | 33.9 | 34.2 | 34.7 |
| States' own revenue, % of their revenue receipts | 62.9 | 60.4 | 59.5 | 58.3 | 58.1 | 58.9 | 59.1 | 59.8 | 61.6 | 61.7 | 58.0 | 54.6 | 52.9 | 56.4 | 54.7 | 55.6 | 52.1 | 53.3 | 55.9 | 57.8 | 56.9 | 58.2 | . |
| Non-Finance-Commission grants, % of transfers | 32.8 | 30.2 | 30.7 | 31.6 | 35.3 | 38.4 | 34.5 | 32.2 | 29.9 | 29.0 | 40.0 | 29.0 | 27.0 | 31.0 | 29.2 | 34.7 | 37.1 | 27.6 | 30.3 | 31.6 | 31.4 | 32.6 | . |
| Borrowing conditions (coded 0, 0.5 or 1) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| GST centralisation (coded 0 to 1) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.60 | 0.70 | 0.80 | 0.85 | 0.90 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |