Which institution in India is statutorily responsible for formulating and releasing official estimates of National Income, Gross Domestic Product, and industrial production indices?

💡 Solution & Explanation

The National Statistical Office, operating under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, is responsible for compiling and publishing key macroeconomic indicators including Gross Domestic Product, National Accounts Statistics, and the Index of Industrial Production. Mistaking the central bank for this statistical agency overlooks the division between monetary policymaking and official data compilation. The National Statistical Office was formed through the merger of the Central Statistics Office and the National Sample Survey Office. Its data forms the empirical foundation for central and state budgetary planning.