India Unveils Revised Index of Core Industries with 2022-23 Base Year

The government’s shift to a 2022-23 base year for the Index of Core Industries aims to capture a more accurate representation of India’s evolving industrial landscape.

NEW DELHI — The Office of Economic Adviser (OEA), under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), has announced the release of a revised series for the Index of Core Industries (ICI), transitioning the base year from 2011-12 to 2022-23. The official release, scheduled for July 20, 2026, marks a strategic update to one of India’s most critical macroeconomic barometers.

This transition is designed to align industrial data with contemporary production patterns, technological advancements, and shifting economic structures. By updating the base year, the government intends to provide policymakers, investors, and industrial stakeholders with a more precise metric for assessing the country's manufacturing and infrastructure momentum.

Expanding the Core Basket

A significant feature of the revised series is the expansion of the "Core Industries" basket from eight to nine sectors. Notably, Iron Ore has been formally included as a core industry, reflecting its indispensable role in current industrial production and the nation's broader development goals.

To maintain methodological consistency with the updated Index of Industrial Production (IIP), the OEA has introduced several key structural changes:

• Methodological Realignment: The revised series now utilizes gross production data for compiling the Steel Index, replacing the net production data used in the 2011-12 series.

• Streamlined Coal Reporting: To eliminate the risk of double-counting, the Coal sector will now exclusively track Raw Coal production, excluding Coal Middlings and Washed Coal, which are derivatives of the primary output.

• Consistent Weighting: The weights for the new ICI series have been derived directly from the IIP (2022-23) series, ensuring better integration between the two indices.

Official Sources

The data is compiled and released by the Office of Economic Adviser (OEA), DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The OEA maintains that the revision adheres to established statistical methodologies and aligns with the IIP series recently released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). The inaugural release on July 20 will include provisional figures for June 2026, alongside a comprehensive back series covering the 38-month period from April 2023 to May 2026.

Quote Section

"According to officials at the Office of Economic Adviser, the transition to the 2022-23 base year is essential to reflect the current structure of the industrial sector. The inclusion of iron ore and the alignment of steel production data are intended to provide a more representative picture of industrial growth dynamics."

Why It Matters

The Index of Core Industries acts as a leading indicator for the broader Indian economy. Because these industries—including steel, cement, electricity, and coal—comprise a significant weight within the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), their performance often serves as a proxy for total industrial output. For businesses and investors, the move to a 2022-23 base year offers a clearer look at how specific sectors are performing under current economic conditions, helping to reduce statistical distortions that occur as base years become outdated.

Key Facts at a Glance

• New Base Year: 2022-23, replacing the previous 2011-12 series.

• Expanded Coverage: The basket of core industries has increased from eight to nine with the addition of Iron Ore.

• Release Scope: Includes the provisional index for June 2026 and back-series data from April 2023.

• Data Accuracy: Steel Index compilation now uses gross production data to align with IIP standards.

FAQ

Why is the base year being changed? Periodic revisions are necessary to account for technological changes, shifting consumption patterns, and the evolution of the industrial structure, ensuring the index remains a relevant economic indicator.

What industries are now covered in the ICI? The index now covers nine sectors, including Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement, Electricity, and the newly added Iron Ore.

How does this affect the Index of Industrial Production (IIP)? The ICI is a key component of the IIP, and aligning the base years of both indices provides a consistent and more reliable measurement of total industrial activity in India.

Source: Office of Economic Adviser (OEA), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Press Information Bureau (PIB)