India to Launch Index of Service Production in July 2026 to Track Services-Sector Growth

India is preparing to introduce a major new economic indicator in July 2026 with the launch of the Index of Service Production, a monthly measure designed to track short-term movement in the country’s services sector. The initiative marks an important upgrade in India’s statistical system, as services have remained the largest component of the economy for more than a decade, contributing over 50% of Gross Value Added since 2013–14.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation will release trial monthly indices for 2025–26 and April 2026 on July 14, 2026. After this first release, the trial index will be published every month with a lag of around 60 days. The base year has been fixed at 2024–25, giving the new indicator a recent reference point for measuring activity in the modern services economy.

The new index will initially cover key formal-sector services such as wholesale and retail trade, transport, banking, insurance, telecommunications, hotels and restaurants, real estate, professional and technical services, and arts and entertainment. Health and education services are expected to be added later once data from the Annual Survey of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises becomes available.

A major feature of the index will be its use of administrative data, GST returns and survey-based inputs. GST-based outward supplies data will be used to estimate output across several service industries, while quantity-based indicators will be used for sectors such as air transport and railways. This approach reflects India’s growing ability to use digital and administrative datasets for faster economic measurement.

The Index of Service Production will fill a long-standing gap in India’s high-frequency economic data. India already has the Index of Industrial Production to track industrial activity, but there has been no comparable monthly indicator for services, despite the sector’s dominant role in GDP, employment, consumption, financial activity, trade, transport and urban demand. MoSPI had earlier released an approach paper in April 2026 after consultations by a Technical Advisory Committee constituted in May 2025.

India has also revised the Index of Industrial Production to a new 2022–23 base year, making the industrial indicator more representative of the current economy. The new IIP series recorded 4.9% growth in April 2026, supported by 6.2% growth in manufacturing. Together, the revised IIP and the new services index will give policymakers a broader monthly view of production trends across both industry and services.

For policymakers, investors, analysts and businesses, the new services index could become a valuable tool for reading the direction of the economy between quarterly GDP releases. It will help in assessing business cycles, improving forecasts, tracking formal-sector demand and understanding which service industries are expanding or slowing. For a services-led economy like India, this can support better decisions on credit, taxation, infrastructure, employment and sector-specific policy.

The launch of the Index of Service Production will give India a sharper monthly dashboard for its largest economic engine. As services continue to drive growth, jobs, digital activity, finance, mobility, tourism and professional work, the new indicator will make India’s economic monitoring system more timely, data-rich and aligned with the structure of the modern economy.