MoSPI Releases Key Methodology Changes Ahead of New GDP Base-Year Series

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released a major report outlining methodological improvements being introduced in India's revised National Accounts Statistics (NAS), as the country prepares to roll out a new base-year series for GDP and related macroeconomic aggregates.

The updated national accounts series is scheduled for release on 27 February 2026, marking an important milestone in strengthening the statistical foundation for economic analysis and policymaking.

Advisory Committee Formed to Guide Base-Year Revision

MoSPI is currently in the process of revising the base year of national accounts. To guide this transition, an Advisory Committee on National Account Statistics (ACNAS) was constituted under the chairmanship of Professor B.N. Goldar.

The committee has been tasked with advising the Ministry on:

• Inclusion of new data sources

• Methodological improvements

• Enhancing compilation and presentation standards

• Aligning national accounts with evolving economic structures

Five Sub-Committees Driving Parallel Reforms

Under ACNAS, five specialised sub-committees were formed to deliberate simultaneously on critical technical areas:

1. Incorporation of New Data Sources, Rates and Ratios

2. Methodological Improvements

3. Constant Price Estimates

4. Regional Accounts

5. SNA 2025 Update

To apprise users of upcoming changes, MoSPI has now released the report of the Sub-Committee on Methodological Improvements, which focuses on revisions in GDP compilation and other national accounts estimates.

Major Methodological Changes in the New Series

The report highlights several key reforms incorporated in the upcoming series.

1. Improved Allocation in the Private Corporate Sector

Segregation of multi-activity enterprises

In the 2011–12 series, the entire Gross Value Added (GVA) of a multi-activity enterprise was allocated to the industry with the largest share.

In the new series, MoSPI will use activity-wise revenue shares from MGT data to allocate value added more accurately across business activities.

Disaggregated multipliers for non-reporting firms

Earlier, multipliers based on Paid-up Capital (PUC) were applied at an overall level.

Now, industry- and size-specific multipliers will be used to account for differences in capital intensity across sectors.

2. Expanded Coverage in the General Government Sector

Imputation of housing services for government employees

The new series includes an imputed value for housing services provided by the government to employees, ensuring a more complete valuation of government output.

Enhanced coverage of autonomous institutes and local bodies

The scope of government sector estimates has been broadened for better completeness.

3. Stronger Annual Estimation of the Household Sector

Household sector estimates will now be improved using:

• Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises

• Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) on an annual basis

This replaces the earlier indicator-based extrapolation method and allows direct yearly measurement of a sector that constitutes a large share of India's economy.

4. Updated Rates and Ratios Based on Latest Studies

The new series incorporates updated ratios derived from recent sectoral research, including:

• Grass and fodder studies (IGFRI)

• Fisheries studies (CMFRI & CIFRI)

• Milk and dairy consumption (NDRI)

• Transport services study (JNU)

These updates strengthen the accuracy of agricultural and consumption estimates.

5. Integration of New Data Sources

MoSPI has expanded the data backbone for national accounts by incorporating:

• GST data for Quarterly National Accounts and regional allocation

• Public Financial Management System (PFMS) data for government estimates

• e-Vahan data for production and consumption of land transport services

This represents a major step toward real-time, high-frequency economic measurement.

6. More Nuanced Estimation of Private Consumption (PFCE)

Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) estimation will now follow a mixed approach combining:

• Enhanced use of Household Consumer Expenditure Survey

• Direct estimation from production and administrative datasets

• Commodity flow methods

MoSPI has also adopted the latest international classification standard: COICOP 2018.

7. Improved Quarterly National Accounts Benchmarking

The 2011–12 series relied on a pro-rata benchmarking method.

The new series adopts the internationally recommended Denton-proportional benchmarking method, which:

• Eliminates artificial discontinuities

• Preserves indicator movement

• Aligns quarterly estimates with annual accounts

More Reports to Follow

MoSPI stated that reports from the other sub-committees will also be released shortly as part of the broader transparency process ahead of the new GDP series rollout.

The methodological report is available on MoSPI's official website.