India to finally get IIP-style Index of Services Production from July

The government will begin releasing a monthly Index of Services Production (ISP) from July as a new high-frequency indicator to track output in India’s services sector, which contributes more than half of the country’s gross value added.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Wednesday said the ISP will serve as the services-sector counterpart of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

The first trial monthly indices, with 2024-25 as the base year, will be released on July 14.

The trial release will include monthly indices for 2025-26 and for April 2026.

After that, the ministry plans to put out the monthly trial indices with a lag of about 60 days, on the 29th of every month or the next working day if it falls on a holiday.

The ministry said the new indicator is needed as the services sector has accounted for over 50% of India’s GVA since 2013-14, but the country did not have a comparable short-term index to track movements in the sector on the lines of the IIP for industry.

The ISP will initially cover formal services sector activities such as wholesale and retail trade, transport, banking, insurance, telecommunications, hotels and restaurants, real estate, professional, scientific and technical services, and arts, entertainment and recreation.

Health and education services are proposed to be added later after data from the Annual Survey of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises (ASISSE) becomes available.

The ministry said the ISP will rely on three main data sources: administrative data for sectors such as air transport, railways, banking and insurance; GST data for a wide range of service activities; and ASISSE data for health and education.

Since GST data is being used for the first time in such a statistical application and some data sources are still evolving, the government will release trial or experimental indices for some time before moving to regular compilation and dissemination.

“ISP will primarily reflect the formal sector as it is compiled using outward supply of enterprises registered under GST,” the ministry said.

Services linked to core government functions or dominated by non-market and informal activity will remain outside its coverage.

A technical advisory committee headed by Debjani Ghosh, distinguished fellow at NITI Aayog, was set up in May 2025 to help finalise the conceptual and methodological framework for the index. Its report is expected in the first fortnight of July.