MoSPI to Accelerate IIP Release to 28 Days, Enhancing Timeliness & Transparency

The IIP is a crucial short-term indicator that reflects the growth trends in various sectors of the industrial economy including manufacturing, mining, and electricity.

In a significant move to enhance the timeliness, transparency, and efficiency of official statistical dissemination, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has announced a major reform in the release schedule of the All India Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Starting April 2025, the IIP will be released on the 28th of every month at 4:00 PM, thereby reducing the timeline of release from the current 42 days to just 28 days from the end of the reference month.

This development is part of MoSPI's ongoing initiatives to adopt international best practices in statistical reporting and respond to the evolving needs of data users, researchers, policymakers, and market participants. The IIP is a crucial short-term indicator that reflects the growth trends in various sectors of the industrial economy including manufacturing, mining, and electricity.

Background and Importance of IIP

The Index of Industrial Production serves as an important gauge of economic activity and is widely used in the formulation of policies, monitoring industrial performance, and in financial and investment planning. The compilation and release of IIP in India began with the base year 1937 and has undergone multiple revisions over time to reflect the changing industrial landscape. The current series is based on the base year 2011-12.

Historically, MoSPI has released the monthly IIP on the 12th of every month (or the preceding working day if the 12th is a holiday), with a time lag of 42 days after the end of the reference month. These releases included a Quick Estimate, followed by a First Revision the next month and a Second (Final) Revision in the third month following the reference period.

Advancing Timelines: A Strategic Reform

Recognizing the scope for improvement, and the rising demand for quicker data dissemination due to technological advancements in data collection and processing, MoSPI constituted a high-level committee in June 2024. This committee included representatives from key data source agencies such as:

• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)

• Indian Bureau of Mines

• Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals

• Other sectoral data-providing bodies

The committee was tasked with examining the feasibility of reducing the IIP release timeline and streamlining the revision policy without compromising data quality or coverage. After thorough consultations and system-wide reviews, the committee recommended reducing the release timeline to 28 days and eliminating the second revision stage of the IIP.

New Revision Policy: Two-Tier System

Under the revised framework, each month’s IIP data will now undergo only one revision instead of two. The schedule will now follow a two-stage release:

1. Quick Estimates (QE) – Released on the 28th of the following month

2. Final Estimates (FE) – Released in the next month (i.e., two months after the reference period)

This simplification will help avoid confusion caused by multiple revisions and ensure that stakeholders have timely access to near-final data in a much shorter time frame.

Alignment with Global Standards

The updated release schedule aligns closely with the International Recommendations for the Index of Industrial Production (IRIIP-2010), issued by the United Nations, which advises that IIP be released within 45 days of the reference month. It also conforms with the Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which call for release within six weeks.

With this reform, MoSPI is now not only compliant but also among the top-performing nations globally in terms of timeliness of official industrial statistics.

Upcoming Release and Coverage

The first IIP release under the new timeline will take place on 28 April 2025 at 4:00 PM. This release will include:

• Quick Estimates for March 2025

• Final Estimates for December 2024, January 2025, and February 2025

The data will be made available on the Press Information Bureau (PIB) website and MoSPI’s official portal: https://www.mospi.gov.in

Broader Implications

This initiative is part of MoSPI’s broader effort to modernize the statistical ecosystem in India. Other major achievements in this direction include:

• Release of Consumer Price Indices (CPI) within just 12 days after the reference month, one of the fastest globally.

• Timely release of National Sample Survey (NSS) reports within 90 days of fieldwork completion.

• Rationalization of the National Accounts Statistics (NAS) calendar, including the discontinuation of the Third Revised Estimate of GDP to avoid duplication and improve coherence.

MoSPI’s decision to enhance the frequency and reliability of IIP data is a commendable step toward a more responsive and transparent statistical system. This not only meets the growing expectations of data users but also reflects the Ministry's commitment to evidence-based policy making, global comparability, and data democratization.

As India continues its path toward a digitally empowered and data-driven economy, such measures are critical to support informed decision-making and sustainable industrial development.