The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has formed a 26-member committee headed by Biswantah Goldar to revise the base year for national accounts.
G C Manna, former Director-General of the CSO, Chetan Ghate from the Institute of Economic Growth, and Partha Ray from NIBM, Pune are some prominent members of this committee.
The current base year for indices like the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), and Consumer Price Index (CPI) is 2011-12.
The committee will also recommend a new base year for national accounts, which is likely to be 2020-21.
The main objective of the initiative is to increase the accuracy of economic analysis and policy formulation by reviewing existing databases and incorporating new data sources.
It will also give recommendations on adopting the latest UN standards and classifications for developing sector-wise accounts.
This initiative will be step towards modernizing national accounting practices and will foster robust research and policy formulation capabilities.
The base year acts as a reference point for tracking economic variables.
