(11 September 2023) Government Data Roundup: Reports by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Finance, RBI, MoSPI Among Those Released Recently

In this 37^th edition of fortnightly government data roundup, we look at the 6^th Census report on Minor Irrigation (MI) Schemes by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, 5^th Annual Advanced Pricing Agreement(APA) report by Ministry of Finance, All-India House Price Index(HPI) for Q1:2023-24 by RBI, and Estimates Of Gross Domestic Product For The First Quarter (April-June) 2023-24 by Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation.

Among the monthly reports, CPI for Industrial workers, and Combined Index of Eight Core industries were released. The explainer on key price indices can be read here.

Key statistics from these reports are as below.

• The All-India CPI-Industrial Workers for July 2023 stood at 139.7 points and for June, it stood at 136.4, marking an increase by 3.3 points. In terms of the one-month percentage change, it saw a rise of 2.42%, which was higher than the 0.90% increase observed during the same period last year. The primary driver behind this increase in the current index was the Food and Beverages category, which contributed 2.86 percentage points to the overall change.
• The Composite Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) showed an 8.0% increase (tentative) in July 2023 when compared to the July 2022 index. The cumulative growth rate of the ICI from April to July 2023-24 stood at 6.4% (provisional), in contrast to the same period from the previous year.

6^th Census Report on Minor Irrigation (MI) Schemes

Brief about the report:

An accurate and reliable database for minor irrigation schemes is crucial for efficient planning and policymaking within the water resources sector. To achieve this goal, the Indian government had been conducting surveys of minor irrigation schemes. So far, five such censuses have been carried out, corresponding to the reference years 1986-87, 1993-94, 2000-01, 2006-07, and 2013-14, respectively. Additionally, the 6th minor irrigation census, referring to the year 2017-18, has been completed in 32 states and union territories.

Key findings of the report:

• According to the report, the country has a total of 23.14 million minor irrigation (MI) schemes, with 21.93 million (94.8%) being Ground Water (GW) schemes and 1.21 million (5.2%) being Surface Water (SW) schemes.
• There has been an increase of approximately 1.42 million MI schemes during the 6th MI census when compared to the 5th Census. Nationally, both GW and SW schemes have seen an increase of 6.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
• Dug-wells have the largest share among MI schemes, followed by shallow tube-wells, medium tube-wells, and deep tube-wells. Maharashtra leads in dug-wells, surface flow, and surface lift schemes, while Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Punjab are the leading states in shallow tube-wells, medium tube-wells, and deep tube-wells, respectively.
• The majority of MI schemes (96.6%) are privately owned. In GW schemes, private entities own 98.3% of them, whereas in SW schemes, the respective ownership share is 64.2%.

5^th Annual Advanced Pricing Agreement (APA) report

Brief about the report:

The Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) program by the CBDT is a leading effort aimed at fostering a tax environment in India that is welcoming to investors and avoids adversarial situations. Ever since its launch, the Indian APA program has played a substantial role in advancing the Indian government’s goal of making it easier to conduct business. The reports provide essential information and figures regarding the APA program. This information encompasses the distribution of applicants by industry sector, the types of transactions addressed, and the transfer pricing methods utilized, among other details.

Key highlights of the report:

• In the past 11 years, India has received over 1600 applications, with roughly 75% of them being unilateral APAs involving Indian taxpayers and the CBDT. As of 31 March 2023, a total of 516 agreements have been finalized, comprising 420 unilateral agreements and 96 bilateral agreements.
• The overall number of applications remained relatively stable from 173 during the fiscal year 2017-18 but experienced a notable decline to 74 in the fiscal year 2021-22.
• Out of the 1659 applications submitted by 31 March 2023, a total of 831 applications have been resolved, and 828 applications are currently being processed. The majority of unilateral applications that led to agreements in the fiscal year 2022-23 are related to the service sector.
• The majority of unilateral applications that led to agreements in the fiscal year 2022-23 are related to the service sector. Specifically, many of these applications involve captive companies engaged in activities such as software development and IT-enabled services.
• Furthermore, the 63 Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (UAPAs) executed in the fiscal year involve Associated Enterprises (AEs) spanning 130 different countries.

All-India House Price Index (HPI) for Q1:2023-24

Brief about the report:

The Reserve Bank created a quarterly House Price Index (HPI) for ten significant cities, namely Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, and Kochi. Using these individual city indices, an overall House Price Index is also compiled that reflects the housing price trends across all of India. The Aggregate House Price Index is calculated as a weighted average price index utilizing the Laspeyres’ method, with the base year being 2010-11.

Key highlights:

• The year-on-year growth of the All-India House Price Index (HPI) slightly rose to 5.1% in Q1:2023-24, up from 4.6% in the preceding quarter and 3.4% from a year ago.
• The annual HPI growth showed significant variations among cities, with Delhi experiencing the highest growth at 14.9% and Kolkata witnessing a decline of 6.6%.
• On a quarterly basis, the All India HPI increased by 2.6% in Q1:2023-24. In comparison to the previous quarter, eight out of the ten cities saw an increase in housing registration prices.
• Since its inception, the HPI grew from 94.2 during Q1 2010-11 to 311.9 during Q1 2023-23 (provisional).

Estimates of Gross Domestic Product for First Quarter (April-June) 2023-24

Brief about the report:

The Quarterly GDP Estimates are generated using the benchmark indicator approach, which means that they rely on quarterly data from the previous year (referred to as the benchmark year) and extrapolate it using relevant indicators that represent sector performance. These estimates are constructed by incorporating data collected from a variety of sources, including government ministries, departments, and private agencies, which provide valuable inputs for the compilation process. Total tax revenue used for GDP compilation includes Non-GST Revenue as well as GST Revenue.

Key highlights:

• In Q1 2023-24, the Real GDP, also known as GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices, is projected to reach ₹ 40.37 lakh crore. This is in contrast to ₹ 37.44 lakh crore in Q1 2022-23, indicating a growth rate of 7.8%, which is lower than the 13.1% growth seen in Q1 2022-23.
• On the other hand, the Nominal GDP, or GDP at Current Prices, for Q1 2023-24 is estimated to be ₹ 70.67 lakh crore, compared to ₹ 65.42 lakh crore in Q1 2022-23. This represents a growth rate of 8.0%, which is considerably lower than the 27.7% growth recorded in Q1 2022-23.