India shifts GDP base year from 2011–12 to 2022–23 to reflect structural changes including GST rollout and post-Covid economic shifts.
Adoption of double deflation, Supply and Use Tables framework, and the Proportional Denton method to enhance accuracy of quarterly and annual estimates.
Greater inclusion of digital services, renewable energy, and informal and gig economy activity using GST data and high-frequency indicators.
GDP Rebase 2022–23: What Changes in India’s Growth Calculations
With 2022–23 as the new base year, the revised GDP series aims to better reflect India’s post-GST, post-pandemic, service-led and digital economy
Summary
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Following the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), India is now set to release its updated GDP series on Friday, with 2022–23 as the new base year. Key macroeconomic indicators — CPI, GDP, and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) — are being revised to improve economic accuracy. The update will incorporate more granular indicators that better capture post-Covid economic and consumption shifts, with a sharper focus on India’s service-led and increasingly digital economy.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the revised CPI data earlier this month. The rebased IIP data will be rolled out on May 28, also with 2022–23 as the base year.
What Is Changing in the GDP Rebase?
Shifting the base year from 2011–12 to 2022–23 will allow the data to better reflect the current structure of the economy. This includes emerging industries such as digital services and renewable energy, as well as evolving consumption and investment patterns.
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Methodologies are also being refined across sectors, particularly manufacturing and services, using more up-to-date techniques to separate real growth from price changes.
The informal and gig economies — which have expanded significantly in recent years — will be better captured through surveys, GST data, and other high-frequency indicators.
A new benchmarking approach, the Proportional Denton method, will be used to improve the accuracy of quarterly GDP estimates. Additionally, food subsidies will now be treated as transfers in kind rather than being recorded differently in earlier series.
“We would have had this revision earlier, but there were some important economic changes that happened in the country. First GST got introduced, and then Covid intervened,” Saurabh Garg, Secretary in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, said in an earlier interview with Forbes India.
Another notable change is the adoption of “double deflation,” a method that separately adjusts input and output prices to more accurately measure real value added.
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According to an Economic Times report citing Garg, the new series also introduces a framework of ‘Supply and Use Tables.’ This framework is designed to limit discrepancies in early estimates and eliminate them once full data becomes available at the stage of final estimates.
“Updated GDP is like looking at the economy through a sharper lens,” Garg wrote. “Every economic activity, big or small, comes into clear focus, accurately revealing its contribution to the nation's growth. By using better data, refining methods, and aligning with international best practices, the Government of India has brought the economy into sharper view.”
