Statistics Ministry is preparing first of its kind construction survey asking questions such as - How much does spending by household on construction contribute to the economy? Do people spend more on construction material or labour? Is furniture still a big expenditure for households, or do they spend more on sanitaryware?
The new survey, expected to be conducted in the second half of the year, will try to capture gross value added or output from unincorporated enterprises or informal sector, along with households. This assessment will also be used in the new series of GDP, expected to be launched next year in February.
India efficiently captures construction activity of the organised sector; however, unorganised and household sector’s data is collated from All India Debt and Investment survey and old NSS reports released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
MoSPI had first conducted the pilot construction survey back in 1981.
Besides construction, the new survey is expected to run from July till December, will also feature cost of repair and charges paid to labourers, in order to determine how much people in unorganised sector earn.
The ministry will also track investment by companies engaged in construction sector towards fixed assets like building, machinery, furnitures and fixtures, and software.
The survey will also focus on loans undertaken by companies engaged in the sector. It would also look at whether houses rely on non-financial instruments, own sources, banks or private lenders in order to finance construction-related expenses.
