Centre to Change Base Year for GDP, IIP to 2017-18

Narendra Modi-led government of India has decided to change the base year to 2017-18 for the calculation of GDP and IIP.

The base rate for the retail inflation will be revised to 2018 and the ministry will undertake various steps in the next fiscal beginning April that will improve the statistical system that will help meet the data requirements in the emerging socio-economic scenario.

The statistics and programme implementation minister D. V. Sadananda Gowda said

"During 2018-19, the ministry is proposing to initiate steps to revise the base years of gross domestic product (GDP), Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) to accommodate and factor the changes that take place in the economic scenario of the country," 

What is GDP?

GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product which is a method of measuring a country's growth. It is the total value of the goods and services produced by all the people and companies in the country within country's boundaries. 2011-12 is the current base rate to measure India's GDP.

What is IIP?

IIP stands for Index of Industrial Production for India. It is used to measure the growth of various sectors in an economy. It measures short terms changes in the production within a period of time

It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) six weeks after the reference month ends. The current base year is 2011-2012

What is the base year?

Base year is the year against which the performance of an index is measured. For example, suppose the base year is 2010 and the initial value of an index is 100. If the index is 150 in 2019, it means that the value of the index is 50% higher in 2019 than it was in 2010. It is also called the reference year.