Govt shortens monthly factory output data timeline up to 28 days from 42 | Mint

New -Delhi: From April, the government will bring out the monthly industrial production data within 28 days, instead of current practice to release it within 42 days, the Ministry of Statistics said on Thursday. The reduced time to bring out the widely viewed barometer for industrial activities is likely to benefit the economists, policymakers and academics by utilizing new technology in data collection. The renovation of the distribution of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data is part of the overall reform to data management, a priority for Premier Narendra Modi. The Ministry of Statistics said that current practice is in line with the world’s best practices and the norms of multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but there is a ‘growing question of stakeholders to reduce the timeline of IIP release,’ the ministry said in a statement. “From April 2025, the Indian Index of Industrial Production (IIP) will be released at 28th each month within 28 days from the reference month. For a specific month, IIP is released as fast estimates, followed by a final estimate,” the ministry said. The government is also working to restore the base year of the current series of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in an effort to make the measure of the factory gate inflation more accurate, Mint reported on January 2. It is expected to be adapted to India’s estimate of economic production for inflation more precisely. The plan is to change the base year of WPI from 2011-12 to 2022-23. Separately, work is also underway with a transition from WPI, which follows goods, but not services to a more comprehensive producer price index (PPI) that can also locate services. The Statistics Ministry currently releases the monthly IIP data on the twelfth day of each month, the previous working day, if the twelfth is a holiday, within 42 days of the Month. The shift in the timeline was determined by a committee, drawn up by the Ministry of Statistics and the implementation of the program, consisting of data source agencies representatives, including the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Indian Bureau of Mines and the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals. Along with the shift in the timeline, the committee also recommended the release of only two estimates, namely a quick estimate and a final estimate, of a specific month instead of the earlier practice to release three estimates-fast estimates followed by a first revised estimate and a second revised final estimate. According to the ministry, the calendar of the release of statistics on national accounts has also been rationalized by preventing the need for the third revised estimates of gross domestic product. Giresh Chandra Prasad contributed to this story first published: 17 Apr 2025, 11:36