RBI Guv Malhotra backs MoSPI base year revision of CPI, GDP and IIP

New Delhi: Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said the Statistics Ministry’s decision to revise the base year for key macroeconomic indicators will better reflect changes in consumption patterns and economic structure, while supporting more calibrated monetary policy and growth.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has announced base year revisions for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), GDP and Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Welcoming the move, Malhotra said these indicators play a critical role in policymaking at the Reserve Bank.

In a video message shared by MoSPI on social media platform X, he said the exercise goes beyond a routine base year change, covering updates in methodology, weights, item baskets, data sources and computation techniques.

“For us, CPI is especially important as it anchors our flexible inflation-targeting framework,” Malhotra said, adding that updating the base year would ensure the index more accurately reflects current household consumption and spending patterns.

He noted that GDP estimates must capture the evolving structure of the Indian economy, which has seen a growing role of services, digital activities and new business models. Similarly, revising the IIP base year would help improve assessments of underlying momentum in the real economy. Malhotra said strengthening statistical systems would aid more effective policy calibration and support both price stability and economic growth.

MoSPI said December retail inflation data was the last under the 2012 CPI series. January inflation will use a new 2024-based CPI, with revised coverage and weights, to be released in February, followed by new national accounts and IIP series later this year.