MoSPI is set to launch the Index of Services Production (ISP) with base year 2024-25 in July 2026. The ISP will measure monthly output in India's services sector, filling a critical statistical gap. Trial indices are being prepared using establishment-level data. The index covers key sub-sectors like trade, transport, financial services, IT, and hospitality. It will complement the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), enabling more accurate quarterly GDP estimates and timely economic policymaking.

India's services sector contributes over 55% of GDP and employs hundreds of millions, yet unlike manufacturing, it has lacked a dedicated high-frequency output index. The IIP captures only industrial production; services have historically been estimated using proxy indicators like tax revenues, cargo traffic, or credit offtake — all indirect and lagged. The ISP fills this structural gap by directly measuring monthly services output across formal establishments.

The base year 2024-25 aligns ISP with the upcoming GDP rebasing exercise, ensuring methodological consistency. MoSPI is using administrative and enterprise survey data — including GST filings, SEBI-registered entity data, and DPIIT sources — to build the index. The trial phase (preceding the July 2026 launch) tests coverage, data reliability, and seasonal adjustment methodologies.

For policymakers, ISP matters because monetary policy decisions, fiscal planning, and credit allocation increasingly need services-specific signals. For UPSC purposes, ISP represents India's ongoing statistical capacity-building — a GS3 theme linking economic governance, data infrastructure, and policy effectiveness. Questions may frame it as a reform in national accounting, an answer to limitations of IIP, or a tool for tracking services-led growth. The ISP also has implications for India's performance in international statistical standards rankings.