Key Changes in the New Series
Non-Financial Private Corporate Sector
For multi-activity enterprises, Gross Value Added (GVA) will now be segregated based on activity-wise revenue shares rather than assigning all output to the dominant industry. Additionally, multipliers will be applied at disaggregated levels, accounting for variations in capital intensity across industries and company sizes.
General Government Sector
The new series introduces imputation of housing services provided by government to employees, ensuring more accurate valuation of public services. Coverage has also been expanded to include autonomous institutes and local bodies.
Household Sector
Estimates for the household sector will now rely on the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises and the Periodic Labour Force Survey, replacing the earlier indicator-based extrapolation method. This ensures direct annual estimation of a sector that contributes significantly to India’s economy.
Updated Rates and Ratios
Sector-specific studies have been incorporated to refine estimates. For agriculture, inputs from the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute and fisheries studies from CMFRI and CIFRI are included. Consumption estimates benefit from research by the National Dairy Research Institute and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
New Data Sources
GST data will be used for quarterly accounts and regional allocation, while the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) will provide timely government sector estimates. E-vahan data will support measurement of transport services.
Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE)
PFCE estimation adopts a mixed approach combining household surveys, production data, and commodity flow analysis. The latest COICOP 2018 classification has been adopted for consistency with global standards.
Quarterly National Accounts (QNA)
The pro-rata benchmarking method has been replaced with the internationally recommended Denton-proportional method, eliminating artificial discontinuities and aligning quarterly estimates with annual accounts.
Significance of the Overhaul
These methodological improvements aim to enhance accuracy, transparency, and international comparability of India’s GDP estimates. By integrating new data sources and refining estimation techniques, the revised series is expected to provide policymakers, researchers, and businesses with a more reliable picture of the economy.
