Reliable, timely and granular data is the foundation of Viksit Bharat 2047. Critically examine how the VISTAR scheme seeks to reform India's official statistical system.

Targets for growth, jobs and poverty under Viksit Bharat 2047 are only as good as the data behind them. The IMF's 2025 Article IV review flagged shortcomings in India's national accounts data [3]. VISTAR, a Rs.4,371.10 crore central sector scheme of MoSPI for 2026-31 [1], is a substantial but incomplete response.

How VISTAR seeks to reform the system

• Scale and frequency: it proposes 59 surveys, up from 43. Its outlay is about 37.5% above the predecessor Capacity Development Scheme's Rs.3,179 crore [1][2].
• Measuring the informal sector: the 8th Economic Census will count all non-farm establishments down to Gram Panchayat/Ward level. It forms the baseline for a Statistical Business Register and an Index of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises [1].
• Filling index gaps: a Headline Index of Services Production will cover India's largest sector [1].
• Technology: end-to-end digitalisation, AI/ML-based validation, and alternate data (mobile, scanner, e-commerce) to reduce the burden on respondents. Datasets are to be harmonised and AI-ready, with "privacy by design" [1].
• Cooperative federalism: SSS 2.0 links central funds to State deliverables such as District GDP, State IIP and million-plus city estimates [1].

Limitations

• Autonomy untouched: the Rangarajan Commission (2001) wanted an empowered National Statistical Commission. The NSC still rests on a 2005 executive resolution [4]. VISTAR funds capacity, not independence, and lets MoSPI move funds freely between components [1].
• Uneven States: SSS has been 100% Centre-funded since 2014-15 [5], yet district-level GDP still has to be built. Paying for deliverables may reward capable States and leave weak ones further behind.
• Quantity over quality: paying for outputs may encourage estimates built on weak methods.
• Breaks in the series: new surveys, indices and data sources make comparison with older figures harder.
• Privacy: using mobile and e-commerce data must comply with the DPDP Act, 2023.

VISTAR therefore improves the scale, frequency and detail of Indian statistics. Credibility, however, needs institutions as well as money. Four steps would help: a statutory NSC; SSS 2.0 split into upfront capacity grants for lagging States plus payments released only after a quality check; overlapping old and new series to link them; and strong privacy safeguards. Together these would make VISTAR a trusted data backbone for Viksit Bharat, in line with SDG 17.18 on timely, disaggregated data.