2 min readMar 2, 2026 06:20 AM IST First published on: Mar 2, 2026 at 06:20 AM ISTLast week, the National Statistics Office released the new GDP series, taking another step towards plugging gaps in the country’s data architecture. The series incorporates richer data sources spanning both the formal and informal sectors, revises estimation methodologies, and responds to criticisms of the earlier series. It is better equipped to reflect the evolving structure of the Indian economy and capture its many shifting facets. The new series follows several recent initiatives aimed at improving the accuracy and availability of economic data, including the new inflation series, surveys on household consumption and unincorporated enterprises, and more frequent labour market surveys. This is a welcome development.Among the new sources incorporated are GST figures, which help in estimating the quarterly data. The informal sector is being captured more accurately through annual surveys of unincorporated enterprises. The contentious issue of double deflation has also been addressed in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, while several key ratios have been updated using more recent studies. The underlying message is that momentum in the Indian economy remains healthy. As per the latest estimates, the economy is expected to grow at 7.6 per cent in 2025-26, marginally higher than the earlier estimate of 7.4 per cent. Growth in the third quarter is now pegged at a robust 7.8 per cent. Following the release of these estimates, the chief economic adviser has revised next year’s growth projection to 7-7.4 per cent, higher than the Economic Survey’s forecast of 6.8-7.2 per cent. However, in nominal terms, the size of the economy is now estimated to be 3.8 per cent lower in 2024-25. This could have some implications for meeting fiscal deficit and debt reduction targets.AdvertisementFor now, the data under the new series is available from 2022-23 onwards. The next step will involve the release of the back series — the data for the years prior to 2022-23. The government expects to release this information by the end of this year. This will be a challenging exercise given that many of the new data sources will not be available A careful approach will, therefore, be essential.