NEW DELHI: A panel with representatives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), central and state governments, and academia has been formed to update the base year for calculating Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 2022-23 from 2011-12, the government informed Parliament on Monday.
Minister of state for statistics & programme implementation, Rao Inderjit Singh, said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that the government has decided to revise the base year for GDP compilation to 2022-23.
He noted that the advisory committee on national accounts statistics (ACNAS), which includes members from the central and state governments, the RBI, academia, and researchers, has been set up to identify new data sources and provide advice on the methodology for compiling National Accounts Statistics under the revised series.
Steps taken to improve the statistical system include the formation of ACNAS, standardizing data structures for consistent quality reporting across the National Statistical System, and using administrative data, Rao explained.
The 26-member ACNAS, chaired by Biswanath Goldar, is expected to complete the revision by early 2026.
Earlier, in 2017 too the government had said that it would revise the base year of national accounts to 2017-18 from 2011-12.
The current GDP series based on the 2011-12 base year was released in January 2015.
The national accounts’ base year serves as a reference point for comparing economic data across different years. It helps understand shifts in purchasing power and enables the computation of growth figures adjusted for inflation.
Reasons for revision:
- The base year for national accounts is periodically updated to reflect structural changes in the economy and provide an accurate representation of economic activity through macroeconomic data.
- The GDP base year modification aligns with international practices to ensure precise economic data collection.
- Ideally, the base year should be revised every five years to account for changes in the economy.
India’s economic growth slumped to a seven-quarter low of 5.4 per cent in the July to September period.
The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) prepared the first official national income estimates using the base year 1948-49. These estimates, including constant (1948-49) and current prices, along with Public Authority accounts, were published in 1956 in a report titled Estimates of National Income.
