India to benchmark performance against 26 global indices under new GIRG framework

The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) at NITI Aayog will serve as the central coordinating body for this exercise.

India will benchmark its performance against 26 global indices to identify gaps and strengthen the country’s position in international rankings, Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh informed Parliament on Monday.

The initiative is part of the Global Indices for Reforms and Growth (GIRG) platform, which seeks to use international comparisons to guide policy reform and upgrade India’s statistical and data-reporting systems.

Under GIRG, the government will track 26 indices across four broad themes — economy, development, governance and industry — published by 16 international agencies. Each index has been assigned to a specific nodal ministry, responsible for reviewing methodologies, engaging with publishing organisations and ensuring that India’s latest official data is used in the computations.

The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) at NITI Aayog will serve as the central coordinating body for this exercise.

Singh noted that India already compiles key national indicators such as GDP, CPI and IIP using internationally aligned methodologies and periodically revises their base years to reflect structural changes in the economy. The GIRG framework extends that philosophy to the global ranking ecosystem, where methodological transparency and data consistency often vary widely.

Moneycontrol had first reported in April that the democracy index was among the indicators under review. Its methodology, which Indian officials have previously flagged for opacity and bias, will be examined by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

India ranked 41st in the latest democracy index — behind countries such as Mauritius and Botswana — and was categorised as a “flawed democracy”.