Index of Services Production (ISP) (Economy)
Index of Services Production (ISP) (Economy)
Why In News:
* The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) releases the Index of Services Production (ISP) for the month of June 2026 in respect of 19 sub-sectors, with base year 2024–25.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseDetailaspx?PRID=2304953®=48&lang=1
Index of Services Production (ISP): Key Features
Index of Services Production (ISP) is India's first monthly index designed to measure short-term changes in the real output of the formal services sector.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) is responsible for compiling the index.
The ISP uses 2024–25 as its base year, providing a common reference period for measuring changes in services output.
The index is intended to complement the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) by providing a similar high-frequency indicator for the services sector.
Coverage & Methodology
The index covers 19 formal service-sector sub-sectors, including trade, transport, financial services, telecommunications, hotels and real estate.
Health and education are presently outside the coverage and are proposed to be incorporated after the availability of suitable data from the Annual Survey of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises (ASISSE).
Since India does not yet have a comprehensive Services Producer Price Index (SPPI), the ISP uses CPI (Non-Food) as a proxy for deflating nominal values and estimating real output.
Regular releases of the index are scheduled for the 29th of every month, or the next working day, with an approximately 60-day time lag.
Key facts for Prelims
The NSO functions under MoSPI and serves as the principal statistical organisation for producing and coordinating major official statistics in India.
The NSO was created in 2019 through the merger of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
Key Functions of NSO:
Conducts large-scale sample surveys covering major socio-economic areas such as employment, consumption, health, education and housing.
Compiles National Accounts Statistics, including estimates of GDP, GVA, savings, investment and capital formation.
Produces and releases important macroeconomic indicators, including the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The services sector has been a major contributor to India's Gross Value Added (GVA) around 56%, making a dedicated high-frequency output indicator important for assessing overall economic activity.
Before ISP, indicators such as GST collections and Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) were commonly used to gauge services-sector activity indirectly.
The ISP measures real/volume changes rather than merely changes in nominal monetary values, making the use of an appropriate deflator an important methodological component.