The ministry of statistics and programme implementation (Mospi) is stepping up efforts to collaborate with the private sector as it looks to widen the use of alternative data sources, improve statistical coverage and generate more real-time economic insights.

Mospi secretary Saurabh Garg said on Thursday in Calcutta that statistical agencies globally are increasingly leveraging non-traditional datasets such as mobile phone location data, financial transaction records, hospitality and ticketing data, inputs from electricity and transport operators, and datasets compiled by market research firms.

India has begun integrating some of the data sourced from the private sector into official statistics. In the revised Consumer Price Index (CPI) series with 2024 as the base year, the government has started tracking e-commerce prices across 12 major cities, alongside incorporating airfares and OTT subscription costs.

“Because of new technology, there is a lot of alternative data available — mobile phone data, satellite data, digital payments data and even social media signals. We can use that to get more information about what people are doing, and that will also give insights into the industry,” Garg said at an event organised by the Merchants Chamber of Commerce.

He noted that mobile location data can offer granular insights into tourism trends by mapping movement patterns and identifying high-traffic destinations.

Acknowledging concerns around data privacy, Garg emphasised that only aggregated, anonymised and processed data would be made available in the public domain. “We are working with data at an aggregate level to ensure that individual privacy is fully protected,” he said, adding that this approach should also encourage greater participation from private entities.

Separately, Mospi is working on developing an Index of Service Production (ISP) to better capture activity in the services sector, which accounts for more than half of India’s GDP. The ministry had released an approach paper last month seeking stakeholder feedback.

The proposed index will initially cover the formal sector and is expected to complement existing indicators such as the Index of Industrial Production. Garg indicated that the ISP could be rolled out by the middle of next year, in response to a query from The Telegraph.