At the Global FinTech Fest (GFF) 2025, India’s statistics chief Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), said the country’s official data infrastructure is entering a new era—one that combines openness and innovation with strong safeguards for privacy and responsible use.
In a fireside chat moderated by G. Padmanabhan, former Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India, Dr. Garg outlined how MoSPI’s modernisation efforts are strengthening the backbone of India’s data infrastructure.
“Our aim is to reduce the lag between data collection and dissemination. Monthly data should be released within 15 days, quarterly within 45 days, and annual data within 90 days,” — Dr Saurabh Garg
Building a Smarter, Faster Data Ecosystem
Dr. Garg said a key focus for MoSPI is data harmonisation—ensuring that datasets from various ministries and states are interoperable, machine-readable, and comparable. This alignment allows different data systems to “speak to each other,” enabling advanced analytics, AI-driven insights, and evidence-based policymaking.
He noted that timeliness of data is being significantly improved. Labour market statistics, once published annually, now appear monthly, while GDP data is released quarterly—helping policymakers and businesses respond faster to economic shifts.
Privacy and Accountability First
Responsible data governance, Dr. Garg stressed, is the cornerstone of MoSPI’s digital transformation. All data collection and dissemination efforts adhere to strict anonymisation and consent-based frameworks under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (2023), the Aadhaar Act, and internal MoSPI protocols.
Government data is categorised into three access tiers—open, registered, and restricted—balancing transparency with security. Addressing Padmanabhan’s concerns about misuse of personal data, Dr. Garg assured that official datasets are shielded by robust cybersecurity and anonymisation measures.
AI for Public Good
Digitisation and AI are reshaping MoSPI’s operations. Surveys are now conducted via tablets and web portals with built-in validation checks, while the e-Sankhyiki platform aggregates data from multiple ministries for public and private sector use.
“Digitised and validated data not only improves accuracy but fuels innovation,” Dr. Garg said. From Aadhaar-based eKYC for financial inclusion to AI-powered health and education systems, India’s data infrastructure is evolving to serve citizens directly.
Collaboration for a Data-Driven Future
Responding to audience questions, Dr. Garg discussed efforts to make datasets more granular, promote energy-efficient data centres, and streamline KYC processes across regulators.
Concluding the session, Padmanabhan called for stronger public-private partnerships to enhance data quality and ensure ethical use of AI.
The discussion underscored that India’s next phase of growth will depend not only on collecting data—but on how responsibly and effectively it is shared, safeguarded, and put to work.
By: Sandhya Bharti
