New CPI series to use e-commerce, online sources for price data: Govt

The government proposes to include online sources as well as e-commerce platforms to compute retail inflation in a bid to substantially improve reliability, accuracy, and overall quality of the consumer price index (CPI).

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is in the process of revising the base years for computing CPI, Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The new series of CPI (consumer price index-based inflation) with base year (2024=100) data is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2026.

The data on National Accounts with financial year 2022-23 as base year is scheduled to be released on February 27, 2026, while the new series of IIP data with base year 2022-23 will be released on May 28.

MoSPI on Tuesday organised a pre-release consultative workshop on base revision of CPI, GDP and IIP.

On inclusion of new data sources in CPI, the ministry said in addition to the data collected from physical outlets as being done in the current series, prices would also be obtained from e-commerce platforms in 12 selected cities having a population of more than 25 lakh.

Efforts will also be made to procure administrative data in coordination with railways for rail fares, petroleum ministry for fuel prices, and postal department for postal tariffs.

For airfares, telecom services, and OTT platforms, price data is proposed to be compiled from online sources using web-based methods, MoSPI said.

"The adoption of these alternative and digital data sources is expected to substantially improve the representativeness, reliability, accuracy and overall quality of the CPI," it added.

The ministry is also expanding coverage across urban and rural markets, while also incorporating e-commerce price data and other digital sources to better capture changing consumption patterns.

GDP base revision will also facilitate inclusion of new data sources and alignment of compilation process with methodological improvements, standards and classifications.

Addressing the participants at the workshop, MoSPI Secretary Saurabh Garg said the ministry is not expecting GDP expectations to change significantly even after the release of the new data series in February.

"Too early to say, on its impact on GDP numbers. In general, we don't expect much changes from what our previous expectations are," he said.

The availability of real-time data such as Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) filings will help states estimate growth more accurately under the revised GDP methodology, he said.

The Secretary further said the government now has the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) which will help further improve data quality.

He also informed that the government is working with states to develop satellite accounts in segments like culture, digital economy and tourism, in line with the upcoming System of National Accounts (SNA) 2025 revision.

MoSPI is also in the process to launch a new Annual Survey of Service Sector Enterprises shortly with an aim at improving measurement of the sectors that account for over half of India's output.

It is also mulling introducing Index of Service Production in 2026.

In addition, the government will also compile a comprehensive National Product Classification, covering both goods and services over the next six months.

On IIP, MoSPI said the new series will have a comprehensive updation of components to reflect latest patterns of industrial production.

The use of more reliable and timely data sources, and a revision of sectoral and item weights will better capture the current structure of India's industrial economy.