Better tracking of economy

The new IIP series brings in several welcome changes

The new Index of Industrial Production (IIP) series with 2011-12 as the base year includes some much-awaited changes to methodology and coverage. Not only is the new series a substantial improvement over the previous one, it also sets the stage for further modifications. Some of the significant changes include an increase in the number of reporting factories from which data will be captured and exclusion of closed ones. There has also been an addition of items and removal of older ones that are no longer as important or whose data are not available in a timely manner. As a result,