VISTAR: Union Cabinet approves Rs 4,371.10 crore plan

The Union Cabinet has approved the Viksit Bharat Initiative for Statistical Transformation, Analytics & Research (VISTAR) with an outlay of Rs 4,371.10 crore for the financial years 2026-27 to 2030-31, according to the Prime Minister’s Office announcement. DD News reported the approval on 4 November 2026. The scheme covers an expanded survey programme, financial support for state statistical systems and the eighth Economic Census.

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a programme encompassing all statistical and data management activities of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the announcement states. The government intends to give the ministry flexibility to allocate resources according to immediate policy needs, across surveys, methodological research, digital transformation and data governance.

The stated objective is to produce more timely and detailed official statistics, with datasets that different government systems can use together. These are intended outcomes of the approved scheme, rather than improvements already demonstrated.

More surveys and new economic indicators

Under VISTAR’s Comprehensive Statistical Operations and Strengthening of Ecosystem component, MoSPI proposes to conduct 59 surveys during the 16th Finance Commission cycle, against 43 major surveys conducted previously, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. The announcement does not identify the individual surveys in the expanded programme.

The ministry also plans to introduce a Headline Index of Services Production and an Index of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises. These would add statistical measures covering services output and enterprises that are not incorporated as companies. The announcement names the proposed indices but does not specify their release dates or calculation methods.

The government’s plan extends beyond collecting more information. According to the announcement, MoSPI will digitise statistical processes from collection through dissemination and incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning into routine work, primarily for processing, checking and analysing data.

The distinction matters: the approved programme envisages using these technologies within statistical workflows, not replacing the survey programme. The announcement separately proposes internships for students and opportunities for academic and research institutions to submit research proposals, as part of efforts to strengthen statistical skills and research.

Mobile phone and e-commerce data to supplement surveys

MoSPI plans to use alternative sources, including mobile phone, scanner and e-commerce data, alongside traditional surveys, the Prime Minister’s Office said. The stated aims are to fill information gaps and reduce the burden on people and businesses responding to surveys.

The announcement describes these sources as complementary. It does not set out which datasets would be obtained, how access would be arranged or the detailed safeguards governing their use.

Data harmonisation is another part of the programme. In practical terms, this means organising information so that datasets can be understood and used consistently across systems. The announcement identifies cataloguing, machine-readable formats, interoperability, sharing protocols and privacy by design as foundations for that work.

Interoperability means that different systems can exchange and use information; privacy by design means incorporating privacy protections into the way a system is built. The government says these measures are intended to reduce isolated stores of data and duplication, and improve programme targeting. The announcement does not provide detailed operating rules for those protections.

State funding linked to deliverables

VISTAR’s Support for Statistical Strengthening component, called SSS 2.0, will provide funds to state and Union Territory governments through a redesigned framework linked to deliverables, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. The emphasis is on producing detailed district and other local-level statistics, developing data-processing capabilities and using the results in local policymaking.

MoSPI will provide technical support for district-level estimates and estimates for cities with populations above one million under flagship national surveys, the announcement states. DD News identified these as including the Periodic Labour Force Survey, Household Consumption Expenditure Survey and Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises.

The Prime Minister’s Office also said the support would cover compilation of state- and district-level economic output estimates and the state-level Index of Industrial Production, a measure of industrial output.

The state-support programme has an earlier institutional history. MoSPI’s National Statistical Office booklet, Major achievements made under the Sub-Scheme of Support for Statistical Strengthening, records that it began in 2010 as the India Statistical Strengthening Project. It was renamed Support for Statistical Strengthening after another ministry scheme, Basic Statistics for Local Level Development, was merged with it in 2013-14.

The booklet records that 26 states and Union Territories had benefited or were continuing to benefit as of 31 December 2022. That is a historical participation figure, not a count of governments covered by the newly approved VISTAR programme.

What the draft state framework proposes

MoSPI’s draft SSS 2.0 operational guidelines, dated 14 September 2026, provide more detail on the proposed shift in state support. The document describes a move from funding activities towards funding defined outputs and stronger statistical systems. It remains labelled a draft, so its detailed provisions should not be treated as final merely because the Cabinet has approved VISTAR.

The draft proposes linking financial support to deliverables such as priority surveys and data harmonisation. It also envisages a dedicated SSS 2.0 portal covering proposal submission and monitoring, alongside periodic assessments of states’ statistical capacity.

For survey work, the draft sets an objective of aligning state collection and reporting schedules with MoSPI’s national timelines. It also calls for common data standards and datasets that can work across departments. These proposals explain how the ministry intends to make locally generated statistics more consistent, while the Cabinet announcement establishes the broader deliverable-linked funding approach.

Economic Census to build a business register

The third component is the eighth Economic Census, which MoSPI will undertake with states and Union Territories, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. It is intended to collect activity details of all non-farm establishments and their hired workers, with information available down to gram panchayat and ward levels.

The government says the census will provide a detailed assessment of the unorganised sector and a baseline for a National Statistical Business Register. That register is intended to support targeted enterprise surveys and policy interventions, while the census information would help estimate the unorganised sector’s contribution to gross domestic product.

The Cabinet announcement does not specify when Economic Census fieldwork will begin or when its results will be released.