The Union Cabinet approved a five-year scheme with an outlay of ₹4,371.10 crore to modernise official data collection, including the eighth Economic Census and wider use of AI in statistics.

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• The Union Cabinet on November 4 approved a five-year scheme with an outlay of ₹4,371.10 crore to modernise India's official data collection system.
• The scheme is the Viksit Bharat Initiative for Statistical Transformation, Analytics and Research (VISTAR), and it will run from FY27 to FY31.
• It aims to make the statistical system more responsive, improve the availability of detailed data and use AI and machine learning in data processing and analysis.
• VISTAR has three components: Comprehensive Statistical Operations and Strengthening of Ecosystem, Support for Statistical Strengthening, and the Economic Census.
• MoSPI plans to conduct 59 surveys during the 16th Finance Commission cycle, compared with 43 major surveys in the previous cycle.
• The ministry will digitise the entire statistical process, from data collection to analysis and publication.
• New indicators planned include the Headline Index of Services Production and the Index of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises.
• MoSPI will use alternative sources such as mobile phone records, scanner data and e-commerce information alongside traditional surveys.
• Under the revamped SSS 2.0, states and Union Territories get financial and technical support for district-level data and for estimates for cities with over one million people.
• The eighth Economic Census will cover non-farm establishments and workers down to gram panchayat and ward levels and will help assess the size of the unorganised sector.
• Its data will form the basis for a National Statistical Business Register to help plan targeted surveys and policies.

Tags: VISTAR, MoSPI, EconomicCensus