The Cabinet has approved the continuation of the Capacity Development (CD) Scheme till 31.03.2026 or till further review, whichever is earlier, subject to the adherence to Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) recommendations and the financial ceilings etc. The outlay approved for the continuation of the Scheme during 15^th Finance Commission cycle is ₹3179 crore.

2.   The CD Scheme is an Ongoing Central Sector Scheme of MoSPI with an overall objective to augment infrastructural, technical as well as manpower resources for enabling availability of credible and timely official statistics.

3.   The Scheme comprises Capacity Development (Main) Scheme and two sub schemes viz. Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS) and Economic Census (EC). It encompasses all statistical and data management activities of the Ministry and plays a crucial role in generation and maintenance of official statistical system of the country. The large-scale sample surveys undertaken by the Ministry cover important aspects of the economy and provide data inputs for policy framing of the Government. Besides facilitating evidence-based decision making, these surveys are also utilized by the Government for policy planning.

4.   Some of the major statistical products of the Ministry such as Gross Value Added (GVA), Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE), Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE), Gross Fixed Capital Formation, Change In Stock (CIS), Index of Industrial Production (IIP), Consumer Price Index (CPI), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR),Formal Sector Employment Statistics, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Indicator Framework etc., form inevitable part of the economic and social indices utilized for monitoring the Indian economy.

5.   The Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS) is an ongoing sub scheme of the CD Scheme, which aims to improve the statistical capacity and operations of State Statistical Systems for collecting, compiling and disseminating reliable official statistics.

6.   Economic Census sub-scheme conducted periodically gives the complete count of all non-farm economic establishments located within the geographical boundary of India. Economic Census provides disaggregated information on various operational and structural variables of all such establishments of the country. Its database provides valuable inputs for policy makers to design economic development and employment generation related strategies in States/Districts.

7.   In addition to the regular ongoing activities under the CD Scheme, the Ministry is to continue the following newly initiated surveys, namely, Annual Survey of Services Sector Enterprises (ASSSE), Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) and Time Use Survey (TUS). The surveys namely ASSSE and ASUSE will bridge the existing data gap for information required in the services sector and un-incorporated sector, which contributes to a major share in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The TUS provides data on activities of individuals, particularly time disposition of women, which are not presently reflected in country’s GDP. The other major activities to be undertaken under the Scheme include Household Consumer Expenditure Survey (HCES)/Survey on Consumer Basket (SCB), Comprehensive Annual Modular Survey (CAMS) to be conducted on households every year, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), Consumer Price Survey (CPI)-Rural/Urban/Combined, Urban Frame Survey (UFS), International Comparison of Prices (ICP), Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and other related ongoing regular activities for strengthening the survey capabilities of National Sample Surveys.

Capacity development scheme continuation extends central support for official statistics and nationwide statistical surveys. Continuation of the Central Sector Capacity Development Scheme extends support for infrastructure, technical assistance and manpower to strengthen the official statistical system; it comprises a main Capacity Development component and two sub-schemes-Support for Statistical Strengthening and Economic Census-and continues a programme of core and newly initiated surveys (enterprise, household, Time Use, consumer expenditure, labour force, price, urban frame, international price comparison and industry surveys) to address data gaps and enhance national survey capabilities.