India To Launch New IIP Series With 2011-12 Base Year

India will unveil a new series of index of industrial production (IIP) with a base year 2011-12 on May 9 with an aim to map economic activities more accurately.

The new series, which captures industrial activities on monthly basis, will be launched by Chief Statistician and MOSPI Secretary T C A Anant, a government official said on the condition of anonymity. A high-level panel had firmed up the methodology with new base year of 2011-12.

Currently, the IIP is calculated on base year of 2004-05.

The change in baseline for the IIP is expected to bring in more accuracy in mapping the level of economic activity and calculating other numbers like national accounts.

Work is also in progress to change the base year for the wholesale price index (WPI) to 2011-12 year.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has already changed the base year for the country's national accounts, including the gross domestic product (GDP) and the gross value addition (GVA).

The retail inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI) is also calculated on the base year of 2011-12.

For long, economists and think tanks have been pitching for release of new time series of IIP and WPI so that GDP numbers can be based on more accurate and realistic data.

The base year is revised periodically to capture the changes in the structure and composition of the industry over time due to technological changes, economic reforms and consumption pattern of the people.

The IIP gives a broad outlook on output of various types of goods like basic, consumer and capital ones, which helps in gauging the level of economic progress and investments in the economy.