The second and concluding part looks at how the quarterly GDP estimates use the organised sector indicators to measure the unorganised sector, which contributes nearly 50% to the GDP, thereby giving a misleading picture of the state of economic health

All the key economic indicators have been on a downward swing for quite some time. If this slide is not checked India may slip into recession sooner than later. In this first part of a two-part series, the article looks at what the major economic indicators are telling about the state of Indian economy

As per the United Nations System of National Accounts (UN SNA)-2008, the member countries are required to revise the base year of their macro-economic indicators

Are survey results being withheld or discredited because they don't match the government line or is there an inherent problem in the way India conducts its statistics?

The government is reportedly looking at 2017-18 as the new base year for GDP but a decision is yet to be made as the expert committees are still awaiting some more data

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh says the Modi government wants to change the GDP base year only to make its second term look good after demonetisation and GST

Whatever is the new base year, it should be a normal year, not an abnormal one. 2017-18 had two shocks - fallout of demonetisation and implementation of GST

Worryingly, while the unemployment rate has been going up, the labour participation rate, which is the proportion of the working age population that is either employed or actively seeking a job, has been falling

A study conducted by the National Sample Survey Office has found that 36 per cent of companies that are part of the MCA-21 database were shell companies which cannot be traced, and thus hinting at a possible overestimation of the GDP.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) there are around 9 lakh active companies are registered with the MCA after over 3.3 lakh companies were de-registered in two phases over 2017 and 2018

There is a heated debate in the country not only about how the economy is performing but also the credibility of numbers that measure economic progress.

Experts say that while announcing such a scheme is easier, the challenge is in getting the design of the scheme correct.

Pronab Sen, former chief statistician of Indian and an economist, explains why it is difficult to measure the impact of GST on the unorganised sector.

The GST bandwagon has had a choppy ride in the first year but is gaining momentum. Further fine-tuning of the GST law holds key to future success

More than 2.5 crore people, a number greater than Australia's population, have applied for about 90,000 positions in India Railways, underlining the challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces in providing millions of jobs ahead of an election in 2019.

The government is likely to breach the fiscal deficit target this year by 300 basis points (bps), from 3.2% to 3.5% of the GDP, clearly going off the fiscal deficit roadmap as laid down by it earlier.

Despite the likely fiscal slippage this year, next year may be better for government finances due to higher tax collections.