Latest news with #MoSPI
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
CM Stalin says one-trillion-dollar economy goal is within reach
CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said that with the state's growth rate of 11.19%, as per the revised estimates released by Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The target of becoming a USD 1 Trillion economy by 2030 was well within reach. In his official X handle, Stalin said, 'When we set the target of becoming a one trillion dollar economy by 2030, many raised their eyebrows. It's too ambitious, they said. But with growth like this, what once seemed distant is now well within reach.' Calling it a testament to the success of the Dravidian model of governance, Stalin said that while Tamil Nadu was already leading the nation with a 9.69% growth rate (as per the advanced estimate by MoSPI in April), even that has been surpassed. 'Tamil Nadu stands tall as the only state to achieve double-digit growth. The last time this happened was in 2010-11, under the leadership of Kalaignar (M Karunanidhi). Today, history repeats itself under the Dravidian model government, once again led by the DMK,' he said. Addressing reporters at Anna Arivalayam, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said the double-digit growth rate was due to Stalin's initiatives to attract investments, the jobs created through them, among other factors. Thennarasu said, 'Tamil Nadu has become the prime destination for investors, and the investments attracted as a result have brought this accolade to the state. We have managed the financial situation well. They (Opposition) have accused us of incurring debts; however, the debts taken within permissible limits for investments have accelerated Tamil Nadu's growth.'
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Tamil Nadu posts 11.19% GSDP growth in 2024–25, only state to record double-digit rise
CHENNAI: The state seems to be back on a two-digit growth rate with the revised estimates released by Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showing the state's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growing at 11.19% (at constant prices) in 2024-25. This far surpassed the advanced estimate of 9.69% released by MoSPI in April, the state's own projection of a real growth of 9% made in this year's budget and its Economic Survey for 2024-25. The state hit the two-digit mark previously in 2010-11, the last year of the previous DMK government, when it recorded a growth rate of 13.12 %*. Tamil Nadu's GSDP then was however less than one-fourth of its size of Rs 17.2 lakh crore in 2024-25, as per the latest data put out by MoSPI, prepared as on August 1. The data showed that Tamil Nadu, which led the country when the advanced estimates showing a growth rate of 9.69 % were released in April, continued to be on top while also becoming the only state in India to record the double-digit growth rate of 11.19 %. It is noteworthy that the first-ever Economic Survey of Tamil Nadu, prepared by the State Planning Commission this year had said the state has to maintain a sustained growth rate of 12 % to achieve its ambitious aim of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030. Maharashtra, the only State with an economy bigger than Tamil Nadu, grew at 7.27%.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
‘Severe manpower shortage': Parliamentary Committee tells MoSPI to fill at least 50% vacancies this year
Amid what it has called a 'severe manpower shortage', the Standing Committee on Finance has asked the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to fill at least half its vacant positions this year. 'The target of the Ministry should be to fill at least 50 per cent of the existing vacancies across all cadres within this year. It is also expected that the rest of the vacancies be filled up in a time-bound manner thereafter,' the committee said in a report presented in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. MoSPI — which has asked for an additional 2,594 junior and senior statistical officers — has consistently faced a shortage of officers, with the standing committee noting in its report that the number of vacancies in the ministry's Field Operations Division — which is in charge of conducting surveys — rose from 614 in 2023 to 908 at the beginning of 2025. This shortage of manpower, the report said, 'affects the quality of the data'. 'According to the Ministry, the same is being addressed through engaging contractual manpower and training them. The Committee is of the view that this is a stopgap arrangement and does not fully address the issue. The Committee therefore recommends the Ministry to deal with the issue of severe manpower shortage on priority basis and take concrete steps towards recruitment of regular field-based staff in a time-bound manner,' it added. Back in June, Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of MoSPI, had told The Indian Express that 700 Junior Statistical Officers had been recruited for posting in different Regional Offices of the National Statistics Office through the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). 'Moreover, survey-specific engagement of contractual staff is being made with multi-level training focusing more on the quality of the data,' Singh had added. In response, MoSPI had told the standing committee in May that the SSC had provided a list of 725 candidates to fill the vacancies for Junior Statistical Officers for 2024, with appointment letters being issued to 663 candidates through the 'Rozgar Mela' held on April 26. The Staff Selection Committee has also been informed of 245 vacancies in the post of Junior Statistical Officers for 2025. 'Further, it is to mention that the proposal of 2nd Cadre Review of Subordinate Statistical Service (SSS) has been submitted to Dept. of Expenditure, wherein additional strength of 1,767 Junior Statistical Officers (JSOs) and 827 Senior Statistical Officers (SSOs) have been requested,' the standing committee's report said, quoting MoSPI. The Standing Committee on Finance is chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Cuttack, Odisha. It looks at matters related to the finance, corporate affairs, and statistics ministries, as well as the NITI Aayog. Siddharth Upasani is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. He reports primarily on data and the economy, looking for trends and changes in the former which paint a picture of the latter. Before The Indian Express, he worked at Moneycontrol and financial newswire Informist (previously called Cogencis). Outside of work, sports, fantasy football, and graphic novels keep him busy. ... Read More
Mint
4 days ago
- Business
- Mint
India's silent data revolution will arm policymaking with evidence
India is at the cusp of a transformative data revolution that promises to fundamentally reshape how we understand the economy. The ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) has embarked on an ambitious modernization agenda that is not merely updating existing systems but re-imagining our entire statistical infrastructure. This represents a significant advance in public administration, with profound implications for policymaking, governance and economic planning. There are four key aspects of this exercise: timeliness and frequency of data releases, data diversity to expand the statistical universe, harmonization of administrative data-sets and a user-centric shift in producing official statistics. The most visible transformation is the higher speed and frequency of data dissemination. India's Consumer Price Index (CPI) was already on par with global standards in timeliness, while the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has evolved from an annual exercise to a monthly pulse -check of employment. What once took 5-6 months to publish now emerges within 45-90 days of completion. Also Read: GDP's dirty little secret: Why we should be tracking GVA instead This acceleration extends across indicators. The Index of Industrial Production now appears within 28 days from the end of its reference month, compared to 42 days previously. The extension of quarterly PLFS to rural areas represents a leap that gives policymakers near real-time insights into rural employment trends that used to be invisible for months. Moving the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises to a quarterly schedule will provide better insights into informal sector activity. This is a shift in governance philosophy. When data arrives months after the fact, policy responses are reactive at best. When statistics flow with the rhythm of economic activity, governance becomes genuinely responsive to ground realities. Beyond speed, India is expanding the diversity and scope of its statistical apparatus. New surveys of company capital expenditure and service sector enterprises offer a view of business investment patterns and service economy dynamics. An effort to measure household income is underway too. Also Read: Himanshu: India's economy is too complex to afford less-than-robust statistics To better leverage data, work is afoot on new frameworks to harmonize different data-sets and set standards for data quality. These initiatives reflect the fact that in today's digitally connected economy, isolated statistics can be both inefficient and ineffective. Equally welcome are efforts to roll online prices into the CPI, along with online rail fares and fuel prices. MoSPI's creation of a dedicated research analysis division signals a shift from data collection to interpretation. Working papers from this division promise to transform raw statistics into actionable intelligence. The statistical system's growing focus on user needs is even more significant. Data awareness is being enhanced through platforms like e-Sankhyiki and the GoIStats app. Our system is evolving from a distant repository of numbers into a dynamic, responsive and user-friendly ecosystem. We must keep this momentum going towards our goal of becoming an advanced economy. Yet, significant challenges remain. The push for sub-national statistics, particularly at the district level, is a frontier. India's diversity demands granular data that can inform targeted interventions rather than one-size-fits-all policies. MoSPI's initiative to modify sample designs of surveys to enable district-level estimates is encouraging. Also Read: TCA Anant: A household income survey will be valuable if clarity beats confusion The long-delayed Census looms as both an opportunity and necessity. Population data underpins virtually every aspect of government planning, from resource allocation to constituency delimitation. Delays here can cascade through the entire statistical ecosystem. Meanwhile, state-level statistical capacity needs to improve, for which we need more statisticians and data science experts at the state level. The use of AI in survey methodology and response processing can be the next leap. As traditional survey response rates decline globally, AI-assisted data collection and validation could maintain quality, reduce costs and improve speed. We still lack official seasonally-adjusted data for key indicators, which most developed countries have. The challenge of calculating GDP deflators persists, with volatile swings causing sharp differences between nominal and real values. While the government's data website and download systems have improved, navigating our data systems remains difficult, compared with the seamless experience offered by some private providers. We need an institutional system to quickly and carefully respond to data queries. More complex issues need attention too. Demand-side measures of GDP are often estimated from production-side indicators; and quarterly GDP statistics rely on an 'allocation' of annual data, rather than actual collection. Large and frequent revisions in GDP statistics remain problematic; the Indian GDP series still reports five versions. Also Read: GVA data haze: Has India been overcounting the output of its informal sector? Finally, easing micro data access for researchers to answer key questions on the Indian economy with due diligence is crucial. Stepped up R&D and innovation are a critical input for our economic progress, for which data feeds are key contributors. To speed up data modernization, we need added monetary and non-monetary resources, plus the right incentives at all levels. India's data revolution can transcend its technical aspects to redefine the relationship between the state and citizens, and between evidence and policy. When employment data is frequent, price indices capture digital transactions alongside traditional markets and administrative records smoothly integrate with survey data, the space for responsive governance expands dramatically. The true measure of this revolution will not be found in technical specifications or processing speeds, but in policy outcomes. As our statistical infrastructure matures, it promises to become one of India's most valuable public goods. Data-driven governance could then help deepen democratic accountability. It can transform how India thinks about itself and its future. The author is professor of economics, and director and head of the Isaac Center for Public Policy, Ashoka University.
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Business Standard
5 days ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
National child survey under Mission Vatsalya scheme on the anvil: MoSPI
In a bid to provide policymakers with timely and reliable statistics to ensure better protection of children's rights, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is set to conduct a national child survey in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD). The survey will map the needs of children under Mission Vatsalya—a scheme for children in need of care and protection, and children in conflict with law. The periodic survey will be used to prepare a child index. 'MoSPI has initiated a discussion to collaborate with MoWCD for conducting a national child survey to map the needs of children covered under the Mission Vatsalya scheme through a periodic survey. The main focus of the child survey is the preparation of a child index under Mission Vatsalya,' the statistics ministry told a parliamentary panel in response to its suggestion of developing a child index. The Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Lok Sabha member Bhartruhari Mahtab, tabled the report in Parliament on Thursday. 'The committee recommends conducting a regular child survey and developing a national child index in synergy with MoWCD. The committee also suggests the ministry tie up with state governments to engage panchayats and municipal bodies to help facilitate data collection for the survey,' the House panel said. Presently, MoWCD is exploring the requirements in terms of indicators to be considered and the frame to be used in the survey. Once the requirements are received from MoWCD, the feasibility of conducting the survey will be explored, subject to recommendations of technical groups and the steering committee. Separately, the parliamentary panel noted that the results of the seventh Economic Census have not been published by the statistics ministry due to concerns over data accuracy, mainly arising from the Covid pandemic. 'In the meeting taken by the Cabinet Secretary on 13 July 2023, it was recommended that 'it may not be feasible to publish the results of the seventh Economic Census.' The eighth Economic Census is being implemented in close coordination with the states and Union Territories, as they have the role of fieldwork, training, and finalisation of results,' the ministry told the House panel in response to a query on the progress of the Economic Census.
