Services index to debut on July 14, exclude health, education

New Delhi: Starting next Tuesday, India’s official statistical machinery is set to release the index of services production (ISP), with base year 2024-25, which will act as a high frequency indicator to gauge short- term economic momentum, covering nearly two-third of gross value added (GVA) of the sector.Till now, policymakers have only relied on the index of industrial production (IIP) to gauge economic momentum in the short-term, despite manufacturing being outpaced by the services sector, which now drives over 50% of GVA.The index will cover services, such as trade, transport, telecom, accommodation, entertainment and real estate, among others, while leaving services like education and health out of the purview for the time being till data from the upcoming Annual Survey of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises (ASISSE) becomes available. Also, the informal services sector and non-market services such as public administration, defence, social work, and central bank activities, remain excluded.The index will be compiled primarily using the goods and services network (GSTN) database and administrative datasets from railways, aviation, banking and insurance. On Tuesday, a panel led by NITI Aayog fellow Debjani Ghosh recommended releasing overall as well as sub-sectoral ISPs initially on a trial basis to gather stakeholder feedback. It also recommended that ISP may be released at about 60 days from the end of the reference month.The panel will submit detailed methodology and conceptual framework to measure digital economy soon, as it was also asked to prepare a roadmap to measure the fast growing segment of the economy.