The government is considering changing the base year for calculating GDP from 2011-12 to 2022-23. The government feels that this will present a true picture of the economy.
Sources said this would be the first amendment in more than a decade. The last time this was done was in 2011-12.
According to sources, the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) may suggest the National Accounts Statistics Advisory Committee (ACNAS) to accept 2022-23 as the base year. The 26-member ACNAS, headed by Biswanath Goldar, is expected to complete this work by early 2026.
New base estimates likely to be released in February 2026
Sources said the new base estimates are likely to be released in February 2026. They said that keeping in view the availability of major data sources like ASUSE (Annual Survey of Unorganised Sector Enterprises), Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) to NAS (National Accounts Statistics), the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation will keep 2022-23 as the next base year for consideration of ACNAS.
According to sources, the new calculation will remove some products like lanterns, VCRs, recorders and add products like smartwatches, phones and processed food. GST data is a new data source that can be used in GDP calculation.
Sources said that apart from this, several studies have been done to update the rates and ratios in the calculation of GDP, which will improve the calculation.
Pilot survey is going on
The government is also taking several other measures to improve the statistical system for stronger data governance, which reflects a better and accurate picture of the informal sectors.
Sources said a pilot survey is underway on the Annual Survey of Service Sector Enterprises based on the GSTN-based sampling frame. NSSO (National Sample Survey Office), and MOSPI are going to conduct several surveys.
The surveys to be conducted during 2024-25 and 2025-26 include domestic tourism expenditure, national household travel, health, education and private sector capex surveys.
He said that in 2026-27, the living condition of tribes in India, All India Debt and Investment Survey will be conducted.
Last month, Union Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister Rao Inderjit Singh had called for collaboration of stakeholders to improve the quality, timeliness and relevance of data in the governance process.
