From April, government to release monthly PLFS data, survey on private capex

Starting April, India’s official statistical reporting on economic data is in for a significant overhaul with monthly surveys on the labour force, private sector capital investments and faster data on factory output with a new release date.

According to the Advance release calendar for 2025-26 of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), monthly data for private corporate sector capex investment intentions will be released from April 30. The survey will gauge the intent of about 7,000 private sector companies to undertake capital expenditure in the next two years as well as the spending in the previous three years.

MOSPI will also release monthly data on employment with the Periodic Labour Force Survey turning into a monthly exercise. As per the advance release calendar, Monthly Bulletin of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) – April 2025 will be released on the 15th of every month, starting April 15.

Meanwhile, the index of industrial production (IIP) number will now be released on the 28th of every month capturing data for the previous month. At present, IIP numbers are released on the 12th of every month, reflecting the data for two months before that.

So, for instance, under the current practice, IIP data for December 2024 was released on February 12. The pushing forward of the IIP release date is expected to help policymakers get a quicker understanding of factory sector production and demand.

The retail inflation or consumer price index numbers will continue to be released on the 12th of every month.

The new surveys and the advancement of IIP numbers will ensure that policymakers and experts have faster data on their fingertips on several key macroeconomic issues including manufacturing sector performance, retail inflation, job creation and private sector investments.

MOSPI has been working over the last one year to finetune processes and ensure faster turnaround of survey findings and data compilation to ensure it remains timely and more relevant.