Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb will represent Bengal in a national conference of urban and local bodies convened by the 16th finance commission in New Delhi next week.

“I will represent the delegation of Bengal at the 'national conference and workshop of mayor and chairpersons of local bodies' by the 16th finance commission. It will be held at Bharat in New Delhi on November 26,” Deb said on Friday.

The finance commission was formed on December 31, 2023, to make recommendations for a period of five years, starting from April 1, 2026.

It is supposed to make recommendations on the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the Centre and the state, the principles that should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the states, and the measures needed to augment the consolidated funds of a state to supplement the resources of the panchayats and municipalities in the state based on recommendations made by the finance commission of the state concerned.

“The commission will prepare its report by October 31, 2025, based on which further decisions would be made on the recommendations,” said a source.

The mayor said the Bengal delegation would articulate the views of the state government at the conference.

“We will underscore the need for financial strengthening of urban local bodies which would eventually help in infrastructural and other developments in towns and cities as well as enhancement of civic services in these areas,” said Deb.

Along with him, Dilip Jadav, the chairman of Uttarpara municipality in Hooghly; and Aditi Roy Choudhury Mitra, the chairperson of Bashirhat municipality in North 24-Parganas, will attend the conference, sources said.