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States will soon be able to estimate their economic growth more accurately using real-time tax filing data, a senior government official said Monday, as India prepares to unveil a revamped system for measuring national output.
The availability of up-to-the-minute information from the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) will significantly improve how states calculate their Gross State Domestic Product, according to Saurabh Garg, Secretary in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. "We now have a lot of real-time data available with GSTN, and we will be able to use that to help estimate state domestic product. We will have better triangulation mechanisms available," Garg said. The ministry will also conduct capacity-building workshops to help states strengthen their GSDP estimation capabilities. The new GDP series is scheduled for release on February 27, 2026, alongside a revised inflation measurement system. The updated national accounts framework will include back-series data covering 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 to ensure continuity in economic comparisons. Talking to media persons, Garg said it is "too early to say" what impact the new methodology would have on GDP numbers. "In general, we don't expect much changes from what our previous expectations are," he added. A key focus of the revision is improving measurement of India's vast informal sector, which has long posed challenges for statisticians. Garg said the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises will inform the base revision, with more detailed and frequent information now accessible. However, V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, cautioned that measuring informal economic activity remains inherently difficult. "There are no uniform measures across the world," he said. "We are often overestimating informality because small businesses do not always make a clear distinction between personal and business accounts." The government is also developing specialized satellite accounts in sectors including culture, the digital economy and tourism, aligning with the System of National Accounts 2025 revision expected to be adopted globally from 2029. On inflation tracking, Garg noted the ministry is expanding coverage across urban and rural markets while incorporating e-commerce pricing and other digital data sources to capture evolving consumption patterns. A new Annual Survey of Service Sector Enterprises will be launched in the coming weeks to better measure services, which now account for more than half of India's economic output. An Index of Service Production is planned for next year to complement existing industrial indicators. Additionally, a comprehensive National Product Classification covering both goods and services is expected within six months, building on the National Industrial Classification framework notified earlier this year. (ANI)
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