New base year for GDP, CPI, IIP from early 2026; Services survey from Jan: MoSPI Secretary

With the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) undertaking a base revision exercise and expansion of its data indicators, the key economic datasets — GDP, IIP and CPI — will see a new base from next year onwards, MoSPI Secretary Saurabh Garg said. In an interview with Aanchal Magazine, Garg also said that the weights and items for the new retail inflation basket will now be linked with Household Consumption and Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24 instead of the earlier decision to derive it from HCES 2022-23. Edited excerpts:

- 

At what stage is the statistics ministry on revision of base years for GDP, IIP and CPI? By when can we expect the base revision?

The base year revision exercise of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) is currently underway. For GDP, the new series is scheduled to be released on February 27, 2026 with financial year 2022-23 as base year. For IIP, 2022 -23 has been tentatively identified as the revised base. IIP on revised base would be released from 2026-27. For CPI, 2024 has been identified as the revised base year as the item basket and the weightage of the items would be decided based on the NSO’s Household Consumer Expenditure Survey (HCES) conducted in 2023-24. The new CPI series is expected to be published from the first quarter of 2026.

You mentioned that the item basket and the items’ weightage for inflation would be decided based on HCES 2023-24. Some of the earlier statements from the Ministry had pointed out that the item basket would be based on HCES 2022-23. So, is it 2022-23 or 2023-24?