See Full Document Text
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.
****