“All the states have come on board…The idea is to ensure a robust state statistical system is in place,” the official said.
The plan, the official said, is to release gross district development figures by January 2026.
Data on household consumption, employment and inflation, among many others, across all districts will be collected as part of this exercise.
The Centre is working with states to ensure that data collection at the ground level by both the central government and state teams is in tandem.The official said adjustments to the central team could be carried out accordingly.Collecting district-level data will also benefit the private sector. For example, this information will guide businesses in deciding where to establish supermarkets based on local economic profiles, the official explained.
“It is a necessary building block for Viksit Bharat.”
India aims to become a developed nation by 2047 under Viksit Bharat.
The ministry is also working towards a revamp in terms of coverage, data sources, methodology and digitalisation, with an emphasis on timely releases of surveys and reports. It could further reduce the time taken to release the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), depending on reporting by factories, the official said. The base year for key indices-such as IIP, Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-is being updated to either 2022-23 or 2023-24.
The base year at present is 2011-12 for IIP and GDP. For CPI, it is 2012.
By December, the base year will be decided, the official added.
The move is a part of the overall exercise to improve and enhance the country’s statistics.