India to set data standards for developed nations to follow: CEA

New Delhi: India will soon set the global standards and benchmark in data, chief economic adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday. "We are now going to be able to set the benchmark for developed countries to follow" the CEA said, pointing to concerns over data quality worldwide.

Recently, US President Donald Trump fired the labour statistics chief for publishing inaccurate jobs numbers. In the UK, the statistical authority has called for structural reforms within the organisation. Speaking at a sensitisation and review meeting with statistical advisers of ministries and government departments organised by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Nageswaran noted the importance of generating timely, credible and user-friendly data.

"It goes without saying that data and statistics are fundamental to an efficient or informed decision-making process, whether in a corporate setup or government institution," he said. Speaking at the meeting, former Capacity Building Commission chairman Adil Zainulbhai said: "We have an opportunity to upgrade enough for our data systems to become gold standard for the world." He highlighted the need to leverage technology for this purpose across ministries and departments.


With an aim to make data more robust, the statistics ministry will come up with a Service Production Index, like the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) that tracks industrial activity in India.

“Both of them together would give a picture of the economy, which, in a way, builds the narrative also around what others feel about the country,” said Saurabh Garg, secretary, MoSPI.

In his address, he also highlighted the significant role of data in achieving the status of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

“Data brings a lot of accountability to performance and decision-making,” said BVR Subrahmanyam, NITI Aayog CEO.

To meet evolving needs, NITI Aayog is developing a second version of its National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) with AI capabilities, he added.