Eighth Economic Census likely next year; data for seventh awaited
Centre asks states, UTs to submit funds and manpower requirements to start work on 8th Census
 "Eighth Economic Census likely next year; data for seventh awaited")
The ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) has started preparations for the eighth Economic Census (EC), which is expected to be formally launched next year, sources told Business Standard, even as the results of the seventh edition are yet to be made public.
“Centre has asked states and union territories (UTs) to submit requirements for funds and manpower in a bid to start work on the eighth EC. The states and UTs are required to set up a dedicated unit to conduct the exercise. This time around, the ministry seeks better coordination with states and UTs to ensure obtaining results on time,” said sources.
Quality concerns have led to an inordinate delay in the release of results of the seventh EC as out of the 27 states (excluding West Bengal) and eight union territories (UTs), 22 of them had not granted approval till last December, Rao Inderjeet Singh, minister of state (independent charge), MoSPI had informed parliament.
“We have to close the chapter on the seventh economic census so that we can move on with the eighth edition. The new survey will cover the period between 2025-26,” said sources.
The data collection process for the seventh EC started in 2019, but the exercise could only be completed in 2021 because of disruptions owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It would be too late by the time the results of the previous census are made public. So, we need to start the new exercise in earnest,” said another official.
The EC is a valuable source of disaggregated information on various operational and structural variables of all establishments of the country as it provides valuable insights into geographical spread/clusters of economic activities, ownership pattern, persons engaged, etc. of all economic establishments.
The information collected during this census are useful for socio-economic developmental planning at state and district levels. The practice provides an updated sampling frame for follow-up enterprise surveys undertaken for detailed and comprehensive analysis of all establishments across the nation.
Presently, the latest EC data is from the sixth edition, which was conducted in 2013 and the results released in 2016, which had shown that there were 58.5 million pan-Indian establishments, providing employment to 131 million people.