8 April 2026·PIB

Inauguration of All-India Workshop on State Income and Related Aggregates with new base year (2022-2023) on 8th April, 2026 at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

In this note

1. At a Glance

Three-day national workshop (8–10 April 2026) hosted by MoSPI's National Accounts Division (NAD) to align States/UTs with India's revised national accounts series using base year 2022-23 (replacing 2011-12) [1][2].
Relevant for UPSC because it touches National Income Accounting, GSDP/DDP methodology, fiscal federalism, and statistical governance — recurring Prelims + GS-III themes.

Inaugural session held 8 April 2026 at Hotel Daspalla, Suryabagh, Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) for officers of Directorates of Economics & Statistics (DES) of all States/UTs [1].
Follows MoSPI's 27 February 2026 release of the New Series of GDP Estimates with base year 2022-23 [3][4].

India's GDP base year has been revised periodically: 1948-49 → 1960-61 → 1970-71 → 1980-81 → 1993-94 → 1999-2000 → 2004-05 → 2011-12 → 2022-23 [3].
Revision driven by recommendations of the Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics (ACNAS) chaired by Biswanath Goldar [3].
2022-23 chosen as it is a post-COVID "normal" year with robust sectoral data [4].

Organiser: National Accounts Division (NAD), National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) [1].
Venue/Dates: Hotel Daspalla, Visakhapatnam; 8–10 April 2026 [1].
New base year: 2022-23 (replaces 2011-12) [3].
GDP at base year 2022-23: ₹261.18 lakh crore [4].
Real GDP growth FY 2025-26: 7.6%; Nominal GDP growth: 8.6% (revised upward from First Advance Estimates) [4].
Participants: Officers of DES of all States/UTs [1].
Constitutional/Statutory anchor: MoSPI created 1999 (merger of Dept of Statistics & Dept of Programme Implementation); Collection of Statistics Act, 2008; National Statistical Commission (Rangarajan Commission, 2005) [3].
Workshop deliverable: Draft uniform guidelines for compilation of District Domestic Product (DDP) by States/UTs [2].

Economic: New base year captures structural shifts post-2011-12 — digital economy, GST data, formalisation, EPFO/ESIC payrolls; improves accuracy of GSDP/GVA estimates feeding into 15th/16th Finance Commission devolution formulas [3][4].
Administrative / Federal: Promotes uniformity, transparency and comparability in regional accounts; standardises State-level methodology to reduce inter-state divergence [1][2].
Scientific / Technological: Use of MCA-21 corporate database, GSTN data, PLFS, ASI 2022-23, NSS HCES 2022-23; incorporates SNA 2008 methodology refinements [4].
Governance: Strengthens cooperative federalism in statistics — States compile SGDP/DDP, Centre compiles national aggregates; workshop bridges methodology gap [1].

Dec 2025: MoSPI released Second Discussion Paper on National Accounts Base Year Revision (expenditure approach) [5].
26 Feb 2026: MoSPI released FAQ on new GDP series [6].
27 Feb 2026: Press Note on New Series of GDP Estimates with Base Year 2022-23 [3][4].
8 Apr 2026: Inauguration of the All-India Workshop at Visakhapatnam [1].

Workshop organised by National Accounts Division (NAD) under NSO, MoSPI — not by NITI Aayog [1].
New GDP base year: 2022-23, replacing 2011-12 [3].
Base year GDP value: ₹261.18 lakh crore [4].
Real GDP growth FY 2025-26 (revised): 7.6% [4].
Workshop venue: Hotel Daspalla, Suryabagh, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh [1].
Workshop dates: 8–10 April 2026 [1].
Target audience: officers of Directorates of Economics & Statistics (DES) of States/UTs [1].
Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics (ACNAS) recommended the revision [3].
New series incorporates SNA 2008, MCA-21, GSTN, PLFS, ASI, HCES data [4].
Workshop drafted uniform guidelines for District Domestic Product (DDP) [2].
MoSPI formed in 1999; NSO created in 2019 by merging CSO and NSSO [3].
Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 governs official data collection [3].

GS-III — Indian Economy: "Issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development" and "Government Budgeting".
GS-II — Governance: statutory bodies, federalism.
Probable stems:
"Revision of GDP base year is more than an arithmetic exercise — it is a re-imagination of the economy. Discuss in light of the 2022-23 base year revision."
"Examine the role of Directorates of Economics & Statistics in strengthening India's statistical system."
"Uniform District Domestic Product (DDP) estimates can transform evidence-based local governance. Critically analyse."

National Statistical Commission (NSC) — apex advisory body recommended by Rangarajan.
SNA 2008 (System of National Accounts) — UN methodological framework.
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) & HCES 2022-23 — input datasets.
Finance Commission devolution formula — GSDP weight in horizontal devolution.
MCA-21 database — corporate sector GVA source (past controversy).
15th/16th Finance Commission — uses State income data.
GST Council & GSTN — new data source for new series.
District Domestic Product (DDP) — emerging sub-national metric.

Confusing NSO (statistical) with NSSO — NSSO was merged into NSO in 2019; NSO sits under MoSPI, not NITI Aayog.
Treating base year revision as a NITI Aayog initiative — it is MoSPI/NAD.
Mixing up base year (2022-23) with reference year for CPI/IIP, which have their own revision cycles.
Assuming the workshop produced final DDP guidelines — only draft uniform guidelines were discussed [2].
Confusing GDP (national) with GSDP (state) and DDP (district) — workshop is about the State/District tier.