Best of BS Opinion: Sugarcane pricing, higher tax-GDP, and more

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day

To meet its terms of reference, the 15th Finance Commission has recommended a separate mechanism for funding defence and external security but it has facilitated this by a reduction in grants to the states, which works out to Rs 1.5 trillion over five years. “As a consequence, the Commission has penalised the primary engines of development spending in India: The state governments,” the top edit points out. A more lasting solution would have been for the government to focus on improving tax collection as a percentage of gross domestic product to fulfill its obligations, the edit argues. Read it here.