Panel comprising RBI to update GDP base year to 2022-23

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A panel comprising representatives of the Reserve Bank, centre and state governments as well as academia has been constituted to revise the base year of national accounts or GDP from 2011-12 to 2022-23, Parliament was informed on Monday (November 2, 2024).

The government has decided to update the base year for the compilation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2011-12 to 2022-23, said the Minister of State for Statistics & Programme Implementation Rao Indjerjit Singh in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

Mr. Rao informed the House that an Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics (ACNAS) comprising representatives from the Central and State Governments, Reserve Bank India, Academia and Researchers has been constituted for the identification of new data sources and to advise on the methodology for compilation of National Accounts Statistics in the revised series.

Steps such as the constitution of ACNAS, standardization of data structure to promote harmonised quality reporting across the National Statistical System and use of administrative data are the steps taken by the government to improve the statistical system, he stated.

The 26-member ACNAS, which was constituted under the Chairmanship of Biswanath Goldar, is expected to complete the exercise by early 2026.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data based on the 2011-12 series was released in January 2015.

The base year of the national accounts is changed periodically to take into account the structural changes which take place in the economy and to depict a true picture of the economy through macro aggregates.

The first official estimates of national income were prepared by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) with base year 1948-49 for the estimates at constant prices.

These estimates at constant (1948-49) prices along with the corresponding estimates at current prices and the accounts of the Public Authorities were published in the publication, ‘Estimates of National Income’ in 1956.