VISTAR scheme: Rs 4,371 crore to modernise India's statistics, 59 surveys planned

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, approved the VISTAR scheme, a Rs 4,371.10 crore plan to modernise India's official statistical system over five years, from 2026-27 to 2030-31. The central sector scheme will be run by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). It will pay for 59 surveys during the 16th Finance Commission period, against 43 major surveys in the previous cycle, fund the 8th Economic Census with states and Union Territories, and bring artificial intelligence and machine learning into the processing of survey data, according to reports of the decision.

Almost every government decision that touches citizens depends on statistics: how many people are poor, how many have jobs, how fast prices are rising, how many small businesses exist in a district. Those numbers come from surveys and censuses run by MoSPI and state statistical offices. When surveys are delayed, outdated or thin at the district level, schemes are designed and money is shared on weak evidence. VISTAR is meant to address that by paying for more surveys, more often, with better technology.

What was there before: India's official data rests on a set of large surveys, such as those on employment and household consumption, and on periodic Economic Censuses that count non-farm businesses. The two indicators the scheme adds point to where the gaps have been: the services sector, which has not had a headline production index of its own, and the informal or "unincorporated" enterprises, such as small shops and workshops, which are hard to measure.

What changes now: the two new indices are aimed at exactly those gaps. A Headline Index of Services Production would track services output regularly, and an Index of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises would follow the informal economy. The Support for Statistical Strengthening component sends money to states, whose own statistical systems vary widely in capacity. The 8th Economic Census, mapped to panchayat and ward level, would give district planners a count of local businesses and the base for a business register that future surveys can draw on.

What comes next: MoSPI has to design and roll out the surveys and the census with states over the five years. The reports did not give dates for the 8th Economic Census or the first release of the new indices.

Peepals calculation: The scheme plans 59 surveys against 43 in the previous cycle, an increase of 16 surveys or about 37% (59 ÷ 43 ≈ 1.37). Spread evenly over five years, the outlay of Rs 4,371.10 crore works out to about Rs 874 crore a year (4,371.10 ÷ 5 ≈ 874.2), though actual yearly spending will depend on the survey and census schedule. Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: MoSPI and state statistical departments will begin planning the expanded survey programme and the Economic Census. Funding under the SSS component should help weaker state statistical offices.

Long-term: Better and more frequent data on services and the informal sector could improve how schemes are targeted, how GDP is measured and how funds are shared with states. The quality of the outcome will depend on timely surveys and public release of the data.

Who is affected: central and state governments that plan on statistics; researchers, economists and businesses that use official data; small enterprises that will be counted in the Economic Census; and citizens whose access to schemes depends on accurate counts.

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