The revision of the base year of IIP to 2022-23 goes beyond a technical exercise. Discuss how changes in coverage and weights improve the measurement of India's industrial economy.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP), compiled by NSO-MoSPI, tracks the volume of industrial output against a base year. Its 10th base revision, from 2011-12 to 2022-23, went live on 1 June 2026 [2]. It is more than a technical update: it changes what counts as "industry" and how much each part of industry counts.

Changes in coverage: capturing the new economy

• Wider basket: item groups rise from 407 to 463, including 120 new ones such as stents, non-veterinary vaccines, CCTV cameras and aircraft/spacecraft parts [2]. Sunrise sectors like medical devices and electronics now show up in the headline index.
• Obsolete items dropped: 64 groups, such as kerosene, CFLs and sewing machines, have been removed [2]. Declining products no longer distort the index.
• New sectors: Gas Supply and Water Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management are now covered. Mining now includes minor and rare earth minerals [2]. This brings urban services, the circular economy and critical minerals into view.
• "Not elsewhere classified" items retained: field officers went back to factories to identify these miscellaneous products. This reduces under-counting of niche, innovation-driven manufacturing [2].
• Granularity: electricity from renewable sources is now identified separately [2], which helps track the energy transition.

Changes in weights: reflecting structural shifts

• Sector weights now follow each sector's share of GVA in 2022-23 [2].
• Electricity & Gas rises from about 8% to 10.865% and mining falls from about 14.4% to 11.053%. Manufacturing stays dominant at 76.062%, and the new water/waste sector gets 2.020% [1].

Why it matters beyond statistics

• Consistency: the base year now matches GDP and WPI [2]. This is part of the 2026 overhaul of the GDP, CPI and IIP series [3], so policymakers can read these indicators together.
• Timeliness: the index is released monthly, 28 days after the reference month [2].

Remaining gaps

• The Laspeyres fixed-weight formula means the weights will age again. The chain-linked index recommended by TAC-IIP is only an internal pilot for now [2].
• There is no seasonally adjusted series yet, and WPI remains the deflator until an Output Producer Price Index is ready [2].

The new basket and weights make the IIP a closer picture of India's current industrial structure. Publishing chain-linked and seasonally adjusted series on a fixed timeline would lock in these gains, supporting evidence-based industrial policy in line with SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure).