Govt revises release time of India's GDP estimates. Here's why

The Union government has revised the release time for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates, shifting from 5:30 pm to 4:00 pm. The decision to revise the timing was taken to provide users, media and the public “more time on the day of release to access GDP data”, the ministry of statistics & programme implementation (MoSPI) said in a statement.

The government releases annual and quarterly estimates of GDP in accordance with the pre-specified schedule laid down in the advance release calendar of various macro-economic indicators.

“As per the current practice, the press releases of GDP are scheduled at 5:30 pm on the specified release dates. However, with a perspective to provide the users/media/public more time on the day of release to access GDP data, MoSPI has decided to revise the release time for the Press releases of GDP estimates from 5.30 pm to 4.00 pm,” the statement read.

The revised schedule aligns with the closing hours of major financial markets in India, reducing potential market disruption and enabling stakeholders to react to GDP information without interfering with active trading, according to the MoSPI.

“This adjustment also adheres to MoSPI's commitment to transparency and accessibility in data dissemination,” it added.

The GDP estimates for the second quarter of the financial year 2024-25 will be released at 4 pm on November 29, 2024.

"Real GDP or GDP at Constant Prices in Q1 of 2024-25 is estimated at ₹43.64 lakh crore against ₹40.91 lakh crore in Q1 of 2023-24, showing a growth rate of 6.7%," the National Statistical Office (NSO) said in a statement.

The numbers also missed the estimate of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which, in its monetary policy review meeting, had forecast the economy to grow by 7.1% in Q1 of FY25.