New Delhi: India’s recent statistical reforms mark a decisive shift towards greater relevance, responsiveness, and credibility. By updating base years for GDP, Consumer Price Index (CPI), and Index of Industrial Production (IIP), strengthening the measurement of the informal and services sectors, and transforming labour statistics, the government has aligned official data more closely with the structure and dynamics of today’s economy, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday.
At the same time, various measures have been undertaken to significantly improve data quality, timeliness, and public access. The coordinated rollout of new series and systems reflects a commitment not only to methodological rigour and international best practices, but also to transparency and stakeholder engagement, the statement said.
As part of these measures, the base year for GDP estimates has been revised to 2022-23 to reflect new economic structures, and the CPI base year has been revised to 2024, updating the consumption basket and weights for both rural and urban households. Besides, the IIP is being revised to 2022-23, aligned with the new national accounts series.
These initiatives lay a stronger statistical foundation for evidence-based policymaking, effective decentralised planning, and informed public discourse, ensuring that India’s official statistics remain fit for purpose in a rapidly evolving economic landscape, the statement contended.
Over the decade since the last base year (2011-12), the country has seen significant structural shifts, the services sector has expanded rapidly, formalisation has increased under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and digital platforms have transformed business models. These changes created demand for more timely indicators, finer geographic detail, and improved coverage of the informal and services sectors. In response, the government has initiated coordinated reforms as part of a broader modernisation of the national statistical system aimed at strengthening data quality, credibility, and policy relevance.
Periodic base year updates ensure that GDP and other indices reflect the current economic structure and relative prices, which tend to evolve over time. The base year is revised periodically to better capture the structural changes happening in the economy by updating the methodology of compilation and incorporation of new data sources.
Moreover, rebasing allows the adoption of international best practices in methodology as recommended by bodies like the UN Statistical Commission. Aligning with updated global standards ensures that India’s statistics remain comparable and methodologically sound in light of new guidance on measuring the digital economy and supply-use tables.
Informal sector measurement has improved with quarterly QBUSE bulletins. District-level estimation has also become a core design feature across PLFS, ASUSE, and NSS surveys.
Besides, public access to official data has been expanded through GoIStats, e-Sankhyiki, and the revamped Microdata Portal, supporting transparency and data reuse, the statement added.
(IANS)
