Improving national accounts

Methodology concerns must be addressed in the new series

- 

Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh informed Parliament earlier this week that his ministry had set up an advisory committee on the national accounts. Members of this committee, which included representatives from the Reserve Bank of India as well as state governments, would advise the government in particular on the methodology by which India's gross domestic product (GDP) is calculated, with a view to updating the calculation of GDP and shifting its base year from 2011-12, as it is at present, to 2022-23. Attention to India's national accounts statistics is overdue, and it is welcome news that the government is taking steps to bring it up to date. The committee's working and its report should be transparent, and open to public comment and consultation.