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Informist, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025

 

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--MoSPI secy: Deflator in new GDP series to use CPI, WPI, PPI
--MoSPI secy: Panel working on number of years to backdate in new GDP series
--MoSPI secy: Consultation on PDS item treatment not to delay new CPI series
--MoSPI secy: Well-set guardrails to ensure data collected by govt safe
--CONTEXT: MoSPI Secy Saurabh Garg speaks at Global Fintech Fest 
--MoSPI secy: Looking to improve collection of macroecon data 
--MoSPI secy: Using latest data processing tools such as AI, machine learning
--MoSPI secy:Will hold annual survey on svcs sector enterprises from next yr
--MoSPI secy: Open to incorporating industry feedback in data collection
--MoSPI secy: Will include industry-relevant data in surveys after feedback
--MoSPI secy: Focus is on making macroeconomic data more granular

 

MUMBAI – The new series of GDP calculations will include CPI, the wholesale price index, and the producer price index, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Secretary Saurabh Garg said on the sidelines of the Global Fintech Fest here. The weightage of each will remain different based on the sector for which data will be collected, he said.

 

A GDP deflator is used to calculate real GDP growth from the nominal data of the current financial year. The new deflator will be introduced with the upcoming base year revisions, Garg said. The government will introduce a new series of GDP in February next year, with a base year of 2022-23, against the current 2011-12.  The committee deciding the changes was yet to decide on how many years it would backdate the new GDP series, the statistics secretary said. The changes in February will also include a base year revision for the Index of Industrial Production to 2022-23, and CPI to 2024.

 

The current series of GDP uses CPI and WPI in the deflator calculation, the latter of which will also be updated. The statistics ministry does not currently publish the producer price index, or its inflation metric. In August, the ministry had directed price and production information for forthcoming series of WPI and PPI, both for the base year 2022-23.

 

Garg said consultations on the treatment of freebies in the CPI basket is unlikely to delay the launch of the new data series, and that that the statistics ministry would have over two months to incorporate the feedback. The ministry last week sought views and suggestions from stakeholders by Oct. 22 on the treatment of items distributed free of cost through the government's public distribution system in the CPI compilation framework. Under the goverment's flagship Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which covers 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population, the government provides free food grains to eligible households. According to the statistics ministry, free food items distributed through the public distribution system should not be excluded from the CPI framework.

 

Speaking at the event, Garg said the government aims to improve the quality of macroeconomic data it was collecting and make it more granular, down to the district level. The government had set up guardrails to adequately anonymise the data it collects, while maintaining a balance to make it useful for analysis.

 

Garg said the government was already using latest tools for data analysis such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Moreover, the statistics ministry was open to feedback from private industry on adding relevant data points to its surveys, and would collect and publish that data for industry use.

 

The statistics secretary also said the ministry is constantly looking to fill data gaps while improving timeliness, including the monthly release of unemployment data and the informal sector surveys released recently. In this endeavour, the ministry had conducted a pilot study on surveying service sector enterprises last year, and would start an annual release of the survey starting next year.  End

 

Reported by Aaryan Khanna

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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