Follow Us
India’s new GDP series is not just a change in the base year. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) detailed methodology document shows that the 2022-23 base-year series also brings changes in what is measured, how household activity is captured and which data sources are used to estimate economic activity.
Among the more visible changes is the inclusion, for the first time, of electricity generated by households through rooftop solar panels for their own use in the household sector’s gross value added (GVA) for electricity.
On September 21, MoSPI released its Sources and Methods for Compilation of National Accounts Statistics publication, providing a consolidated account of the concepts, definitions, data sources and methodologies used in the new series. The series, with 2022-23 as the base year, replaced the earlier 2011-12 series and was released in February 2026.
Rooftop solar gets counted
The most striking change is in household electricity generation. Under the new methodology, electricity generated by households through rooftop solar installations for their own consumption is included in the production boundary used for national accounts. In other words, even when the electricity is not sold in the market, the economic value of that own-account production is captured in household-sector GVA for the electricity industry.
For 2022-23 and 2023-24, MoSPI uses the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey along with population projections to estimate household electricity generated through rooftop solar. From 2024-25 onwards, the estimate is derived using growth in installed capacity under household-oriented renewable-energy schemes, along with the applicable electricity price.
This means the new GDP framework is designed to capture an economic activity that can take place inside a household without necessarily generating a conventional market transaction.
The change is particularly relevant as rooftop solar expands. MoSPI’s approach means that the economic contribution being measured is not simply the value of solar panels installed, but the electricity produced by households for their own use.
Biogas coverage also expands
Rooftop solar is not the only household energy activity that gets broader coverage. The new series expands the universe of biogas plants considered for national accounts. Under the earlier series, estimates were based on plants installed through programmes of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The revised methodology additionally incorporates biogas plants installed under schemes of the Ministry of Rural Development and the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The change illustrates a bigger principle behind the new series: MoSPI is trying to bring more economic activity into the estimates by using wider and more current administrative and survey data.
ALSO READDelhi is outside global top 100 today, but its GDP could surge by $1.8T by 2050: Report
Household economy gets a closer look
One of the bigger methodological changes is how the household sector itself is estimated. MoSPI said the earlier series relied on inter-survey growth rates or proxy indicators for parts of the household sector. Under the new series, direct level estimates are being prepared using annual surveys such as the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
That matters because the household sector covers a large part of India’s unincorporated and informal economic activity.
The new approach also improves the measurement of newer forms of economic activity. MoSPI has said ASUSE contains economic activity codes covering gig work such as drivers working through aggregators and delivery-service activities. This allows parts of the household and unincorporated economy to be captured through annual survey-based estimates rather than relying on older benchmark estimates.
Domestic workers hired by households-including cooks, drivers and cleaning workers-are also included in GDP under the category of activities of households as employers of domestic personnel, with estimates based on the number of workers and their wages from PLFS data.
GDP now has a larger product map
The new series also increases the level of detail with which the economy is represented. The product-industry framework has expanded from 140 products and 66 industries to 155 products and 67 industries. The additional separately identified products include cabbage and cauliflower, citrus and grapefruit, mutton, beef, prawns, wheat grain-mill products and rice grain-mill products. “Other utility services” has also been added as an industry.
The expansion is significant as national accounts are not simply a single GDP number. They attempt to map production across industries and products and then reconcile how those products are supplied and used across the economy.
The new Supply and Use Table framework also uses 155 products and 67 industries, compared with 140 products in the previous base.
Double deflation changes how output is measured
Another major change is the greater use of double deflation. Under the new series, double deflation is used in manufacturing and agriculture, while single extrapolation is used elsewhere. The earlier practice of using single deflation has therefore been replaced by a more differentiated approach.
The logic is important: changes in the value of production can show either changes in the quantity produced or changes in prices. Double deflation separately accounts for output prices and input prices, allowing constant-price GVA to better reflect changes in actual production.
MoSPI’s detailed methodology says the approach is particularly relevant to manufacturing because the prices of inputs such as raw materials and energy do not necessarily move in line with the prices of finished products. In the manufacturing sector, double deflation is being used for 28 of the 30 categories.
GST, VAHAN and other administrative data enter more prominently
The new framework also makes greater use of high-frequency administrative data. MoSPI has incorporated or explored sources including GST, PFMS and the VAHAN database, alongside regular surveys and other administrative datasets, to improve compilation and cross-check estimates.
For quarterly GDP, GST data are being used extensively for indicators at sub-sectoral and institutional-sector levels. The new series also makes greater use of high-frequency administrative sources such as VAHAN and public disclosures from insurance companies.
The objective is to reduce dependence on older benchmark indicators and bring more current information into the national accounts.
ALSO READWhy everyone is wrong about GDP growth. The correct number is obviously 10%
Financial and corporate sectors also get deeper coverage
The changes extend beyond households. MoSPI said the new methodology uses more detailed corporate filings and LLP records for the non-financial private corporate sector. This is intended to improve industry classification, measurement of economic activity and the allocation of output across companies operating in multiple business segments.
Coverage of the financial sector has also been expanded, while the government sector methodology has been refined, including changes relating to pension payments and housing facilities provided to employees.
For private final consumption expenditure, the new series adopts the COICOP 2018 classification framework, alongside more detailed consumption data and administrative sources.
So what really changed?
The rooftop-solar example captures the larger shift in India’s new GDP series. The change is not that India has suddenly started producing more electricity because of the new methodology. Rather, the national accounts framework is measuring economic activity differently and more comprehensively.
A household generating electricity through its rooftop solar system for its own consumption, a biogas plant covered under a wider set of government schemes, a gig worker captured through annual surveys, or an unincorporated business measured through ASUSE can now be reflected through more direct or expanded data sources.
At the same time, MoSPI is using more detailed corporate information, administrative databases, updated classifications and revised price-measurement techniques.
TOPICSECONOMYGDPSolarSolar EnergyThis article was first uploaded on September twenty-three, twenty twenty-six, at fifteen minutes past seven in the evening. © IE Online Media Services (P) Ltd