MoSPI Reconstitutes Committee To Review Base Year For GDP, CPI

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has reconstituted the Advisory Committee on National Account Statistics to review the base year for calculating key macroeconomic data. The announcement was made through a gazette notification on Friday.

The data under review will include gross domestic product, consumer price index, wholesale price index, index of industrial production, and producer price index. After such a review, the ACNAS will make recommendations to MoSPI for implementation.

The newly reconstituted ACNAS will be led by Biswanath Goldar, a former professor at the Institute of Economic Growth, as chairman. It will consist of 25 other members, which will include professors from various institutes as well as representatives from Niti Aayog, MoSPI, and other ministries.

Asit Kumar Sadhu, a member of the National Statistics Commission, will be a special invitee.

Apart from reviewing the base year, the committee will review the existing data bases and advise on the inclusion of new data sources for improving the estimates of National Accounts. It will also advise on the methodology for the compilation and presentation of National Accounts Statistics for purposes of economic analysis and policy.

The tenure of this committee will be five years or until the completion of the next base-year revision of National Accounts, whichever is later. For operational feasibility, the committee may constitute sub-committees on different aspects with a maximum tenure of two years.

The last such committee in 2019 recommended that the base year for GDP be changed to 2020–21.

The chairman and other non-official members of the committee would be entitled to a sitting fee of Rs. 4,000 per day for attending the meetings.