January IIP wasn't distorted, rather revised index figure: Government

NEW DELHI: The government today said the figure for Index of Industrial Production ( IIP) for January was not a distorted figure, rather it was a revised index figure.

"IIP for January 2012 was not a distorted figure, rather it was a revised index figure," Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation Srikant Kumar Jena said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Jena said that growth rate as per quick estimate (QE) for January 2012 was released as 6.8 per cent on March 12 and revised (first revision) to 1.1 per cent on April 12, 2012.

"Final revision for IIP for January 2012 will be made on June 12, 2012," he added.

The Ministry in April revised the IIP for January from 6.8 per cent to 1.14 per cent because of wrong calculation of sugar production during the month.

According to Jena, IIP for a particular month is released by Central Statistic Office (CSO) as QE with six weeks' time lag.

"As per usual practice, the QE then undergoes first revision after one month and final revision after three months of the release of QE incorporating additional or revised production data received from the source agencies during the intervening period," he said.

Just after the release of the data, there was 'hue and cry' over the revision.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee even said that the sharp revision in the industrial production data was "totally baffling" and asked the authorities concerned to look into the issue.

On a query regarding a committee to be set up by the government for the IIP review, Jena said, "A Working Group under the chairmanship of Dr Sumitra Chaudhuri, Member, Planning Commission, is being set up for reviewing the existing methodology used in compilation of IIP and shifting to a new base year..."