Parliament Question: Comprehensive Review of Statistical System

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*351 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF STATISTICAL SYSTEM *351. SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME

IMPLEMENTATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has conducted a comprehensive review of the country's statistical system to revise the base years and methodologies of key macroeconomic indicators including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Consumer Price Index (CPI), Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) to align them with the current structure of the economy and evolving patterns of consumption and production and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of the key methodological reforms undertaken in the revised statistical series including the adoption of best international practices, novel data sources and estimation techniques along with the expected benefits thereof for evidence-based policymaking;

(c) whether it is proposed to strengthen the institutional capacity of the national statistical system through the greater utilization of digital technology, administrative databases and artificial intelligence for official statistics and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the steps taken by the Government to enhance the transparency, regularity and public availability of official statistical data while ensuring its quality and reliability? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING;

AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE [RAO INDERJIT SINGH]

(a) to (d) A statement is laid down on the Table of the House.STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*351 FOR 12.08.2026 REGARDING COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF STATISTICAL SYSTEM ASKED BY SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR

(a): Yes, Sir. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) undertakes periodic methodological reviews of the statistical framework to ensure that official statistics remain representative of the current structure of the economy and continue to meet emerging data requirements. In this regard, MoSPI has undertaken a comprehensive exercise for revision of the base year of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) to align them with the evolving patterns of consumption and production. The base year of GDP and IIP has been revised from 2011-12 to 2022-23, and the base year of CPI has been revised from 2012 to 2024. The revised CPI series was released on 12th February, 2026, followed by the revised GDP series on 27th February, 2026, and the revised IIP series was released on 1st June, 2026. The base year of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) has also been revised, by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), from 2011-12 to 2022-23 and the revised WPI series was released on 15th June, 2026, replacing the earlier series.

(b): The methodological reforms undertaken across the four revised series are summarized indicator-wise below.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Base Year 2022-23): The new series introduces several methodological and data improvements including the use of new administrative and digital data. Major improvements include better compilation of the Private Corporate Institutional Sector by segregating activities in multi-activity enterprises, improved coverage of t h e Unincorporated Sector using annual survey data, adoption of double deflation in agriculture and manufacturing with volume/single extrapolation for other sectors, replacement of the Pro-Rata method with the Proportional Denton Benchmarking method, updated rates and ratios based on surveys and methodological studies undertaken by MoSPI with various institutions, extensive use of GST and other administrative data for Quarterly National Accounts, improved Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) estimates through the Classification of Individual Consumption according to Purpose (COICOP) 2018 classification and survey & administrative data, and elimination of discrepancies between production- and expenditure-side current price estimates byintegrating annual compilation with the Supply and Use Table framework. Compilation of National Accounts Statistics is done, to the possible extent, as per System of National Accounts (SNA), which is internationally accepted set of recommendations endorsed by United Nations Statistical Commission. Moreover, National Accounts Statistics also adheres to Special Data Dissemination Standard

(SDDS) standards of International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2001.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Base Year 2024): The revised CPI series incorporates key methodological reforms to better reflect the prevailing consumption patterns. The item basket and weighting diagram of the CPI 2024 series have been revised on the basis of the results of the latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey

(HCES), 2023-24 to better represent the evolving consumption pattern. The revised series also includes the use of tablet-based Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) technology for price collection and compilation, inclusion of online markets and administrative data sources for price collection, adoption of the United Nations' Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) 2018, and refinement in the compilation methodology.

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) (Base Year 2022-23): The revised IIP series incorporates methodological improvements, including an updated item basket and weights, an updated panel of factories, expanded coverage through the inclusion of new activities such as GasSupply, Water Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management in the existing scope, provision for factory substitution, and greater use of administrative data for the compilation of the index by expanding the coverage to include additional industrial activities for which data are sourced from the concerned administrative authorities.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) (Base Year 2022-23): The revised WPI series includes several key methodological improvements to enhance the representativeness and robustness of the index. The revised series updates the weighting diagram using Gross Value of Output (GVO) instead of Net Traded Value, and includes new energy sources such as Solar, Wind and Nuclear Electricity. The revised series uses GVO estimates from the revised National Accounts (Base Year 2022-23), supplemented with data from administrative Ministries/agencies and survey sources such as the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) wherever required. It adopts the short-term formulation using chain-based Jevons method for compilation of Elementary/Item indices. For non-response or missing data, theTargeted Mean Imputation method, an internationally recommended methodology, has been adopted.

Collectively, these methodological reforms across GDP, CPI, IIP and WPI are aligned with international best practices and are expected to enhance the accuracy, robustness and representativeness of the respective indices, providing more reliable inputs for evidence-based policymaking and economic analysis.

(c): Yes Sir. MoSPI is strengthening the institutional capacity of the National Statistical System by leveraging digital technologies, administrative databases and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the efficiency, quality and timeliness of official statistics. As part of this effort, Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) has been adopted for data collection in surveys using handheld devices with in-built validation checks. Survey operations are supported through centralized servers, real-time monitoring dashboards, Global Positioning System (GPS) tagging of surveyed households and secure electronic transmission of data. Various stages of the survey process, including sample selection, field monitoring, survey administration, validation and data processing, have also been automated. Further, administrative datasets are being increasingly integrated with sample surveys for preparation of sampling frames and selection of survey samples. For instance, the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) database is used as the sampling frame for the Annual Survey of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises (ASISSE), while the Census 2011 village directory is used for the rural sector under the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE). The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) uses administrative records maintained by the Chief Inspector of Factories and other statutory registration authorities for preparation of its survey frame. Similarly, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs database is used for preparing the survey frame for the Forward Looking Survey of Private Corporate Sector CAPEX Investment Intentions.

In order to use Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning (AI /ML) in the field of dissemination of Official Statistics, MoSPI has established Data Innovation lab in the Ministry. Guidelines for the Data Innovation lab was formally notified in July, 2024. 12 use cases in the field of official statistics were identified, out of which 7 are currently made live for public usage, along with user manuals.

(d) To enhance transparency, regularity and public availability of official statistics, MoSPI has introduced a number of initiatives. Tothis end, an Advance Release Calendar (ARC) is published on MoSPI website indicating the schedule for release of major statistical publications, thereby promoting transparency and predictability in dissemination. Complementing this, the eSankhyiki Portal serves as a single platform for dissemination of official statistics and currently hosts 29 statistical products, 913 datasets and over 137 million records, supported by Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data visualizations and metadata. The Microdata Portal has similarly been revamped to provide access to anonymised unit-level data of more than 189 socio-economic surveys. The Ministry has also modernised its website with AI-enabled features and interactive dashboards and launched the GoIStat Mobile App to facilitate easier access to official statistics. In addition, reports, bulletins, factsheets and unit-level data are disseminated through the Ministry's website.

Official statistics are further disseminated through multiple communication platforms such as newspapers, television, radio, digital and social media, podcasts on Sansad TV, exhibitions, collaboration with MyGov, explanatory videos.

MoSPI has also developed the Statistical Quality Assessment Framework (SQAF), based on the United Nations National Quality Assurance Framework (UN NQAF), 2019, to strengthen quality assurance in official statistics. The SQAF provides a comprehensive framework covering all aspects of official statistical production in line with the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (UNFPOS), while promoting greater efficiency, reliability and accountability.

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