The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is working to enhance the scope of its surveys by providing district-level statistics. This initiative aims to offer companies detailed market size information to better inform their decisions.

MoSPI is seeking to revise its sampling design to ensure the availability of district-level data. Additionally, the ministry is engaging with state authorities to release district-level GDP figures. Currently, state GDP data is published with a lag on an annual basis, whereas national GDP numbers are released quarterly.

At the enterprise level, the government is conducting four key surveys:

  • The Annual Survey of Industries gathers data on registered or formal sector manufacturing firms.
  • The Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises collects information on services and manufacturing firms in the informal economy.
  • The Annual Survey of Service Sector Enterprises (ASSSE), currently in its pilot phase, will provide data on output, loans, and employment in formal sector service firms.
  • The Economic Census, which aims to create a comprehensive business register, will commence next year. The seventh round of the Economic Census has yet to be released due to challenges in ratification by all states.

The ministry announced on September 12 that it will launch a new capex survey for financial and non-financial firms. The survey will assess capex spending for the previous year and intentions for the next two years.

The Capex survey will help determine expectations of investments that will be made, which will help assess demand," Saurabh Garg, secretary of MoSPI, noted at the event.

The ministry is also looking to exploit new data sources for deciding on samples for surveys, such as the MCA for the capex survey and the GSTN for the pilot phase of ASSSE.

The ASSSE’s pilot phase is being conducted in two stages, with 10,000 respondents in the first one and 5,000 in the second.

The full survey will start after the completion of the pilot phase.