The Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA) under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will release the revised Index of Core Industries (ICI) on July 20, introducing 2022–23 as the new base year in place of the existing 2011–12 series. The revised index will also expand the core sector basket from eight to nine industries with the inclusion of iron ore.
The updated series has been aligned with the revised Index of Industrial Production (IIP), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI), all of which now use 2022–23 as the common base year. The revision is aimed at reflecting the current structure of the Indian economy and improving the accuracy of core sector measurement.
With the inclusion of iron ore, the Index of Core Industries will now cover coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, electricity and iron ore. The weights assigned to each sector have also been recalibrated in line with the revised methodology and the updated IIP framework.
Along with the new series, the government will publish the provisional Index of Core Industries for June 2026 as well as a back series from April 2023 to May 2026, enabling continuity in data comparison under the revised base year.
The Index of Core Industries is a key economic indicator that tracks the performance of the country’s core industrial sectors and serves as an important input for estimating industrial production. The revised series is expected to provide a more representative picture of India’s industrial activity by incorporating structural changes in the economy over the past decade.
