₹156,164 crore compensation during 2021-22 now needs revision because the second wave has impacted economic activity. There was a similar shortfall in 2020-21, and the Centre had agreed, after much coercion, to borrow and pass on a portion of that outstanding to states, repayable from future compensation cess accruals.
In the absence of economic activity and commensurate tax revenue inflows, the Centre will now have to find new ways of transferring additional revenue to states, even if that means expanding debt.The fraying federalist structure also mandates a relook at the Seventh Schedule; this has become especially pressing with the Centre increasingly encroaching upon state territory.