NEW DELHI: The Indian government has constituted a panel to examine and suggest, on whether the financial calendar can be changed keeping in-view of the global financial calendars. According to the current norms, the Indian financial calendar starts from April. The government is considering to change this as not many countries follow the same financial model.
Changing the starting date of financial calendar is not an easy task and will impact several aspects of the Indian Economy. A complete revamp of the existing system will take place. The impact will range from the filing of tax returns to the alteration in the entire budget process. Realizing the complex nature of the issue, the Finance Ministry has formed a committee to examine the feasibility of a new financial calendar, including the merits and demerits of the current financial calendar.
The committee is headed by former Chief Economic Adviser Shankar Acharya and further details about the time limit provided for the committee to submit its final report are yet to be released by the Ministry of Finance.
India currently follows the financial calendar model of the British, which is not followed by majority of the countries. For instance, in the case of developed countries like the US the financial calendar will start from October 1. The ministry hopes that a changed financial calendar, framed in a way that it coincides with most of the countries financial model will help in enhancing the strategic bilateral ties.
However, there are a few hurdles before the government for the thought to take a meaningful place in the Indian Economy. The major concern is the crop pattern in India, change in finance calendar is nearly impossible without considering the cropping patterns in India. After all, Agriculture has been the backbone of the Indian Economy since Independence.