Which one of the following authorities recommends the principles governing the grants-in-aid of the revenues to the states out of the Consolidated Fund of India?

Article 280 of the Constitution creates the Finance Commission and assigns it a statutory mandate to advise the President on tax sharing and grants. Textbook summaries of the Finance Commission’s functions explicitly state that it must recommend “the principles that should govern the grants‑in‑aid to the states by the Centre (i.e., out of the Consolidated Fund of India)” as part of its core remit to the President [1]. Official Finance Commission reports and their Terms of Reference likewise treat grants‑in‑aid as a principal area of recommendation, detailing principles and the sums to be paid to states in need under Article 275 and related provisions [2]. Hence, the Finance Commission is the authority that recommends those principles.

Sources

1. [1] Indian Polity, M. Laxmikanth(7th ed.) > Chapter 46: Finance Commission > FUNCTIONS > p. 431
2. [2] https://fincomindia.nic.in/asset/doc/commission-reports/13th-FC/english/Chapter12.pdf