The Office of the Economic Adviser is an attached Office in the Ministry of commerce and Industry. It is the oldest Office of its kind to advise the government of India on various facets of economic policies. The Office renders advice and assistance in the formulation of various policies affecting the country’s industrial climate and renders advice on industrial, trade, fiscal, competition and labour related issues and their impact on industrial performance.

The main functions of the Office of the Economic Adviser include, inter-alia, the following:-

Policy Initiatives

1. To provide economic inputs to the department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Department of Heavy Industry;
2. Appraisal of all matters relating to the formulation of Industrial and Trade Policy and fiscal proposals, in so far as they relate to Industry;
3. Analysis of macro-aggregate data especially those relating to industrial production and trends in industrial growth as well as trade;
4. The Office is the nodal office for Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for examination of WTO issues, except TRIPS, TRIMS and GATS and advises on policy formulation and strategy for WTO negotiations, particularly relating to market access for non-agricultural commodities (industrial tariffs) and competition policy; and
5. Labour issues including ILO labour standards are also dealt with in this office.

• Compilation and publication of the wholesale Price Index Numbers in India every week, periodical reviews of the trends in wholesale prices and weekly, monthly and annual indices of wholesale prices;
• Compilation and publication of "Handbook of Industrial Policy and statistics" every year;
• An advance indicator of industrial activity is brought out as the monthly report on six infrastructure industries, viz, Crude Petroleum, Petroleum Refinery Products, coal, electricity, Cement and finished Steel;
• The Monthly Economic scenario, Select Key Indicators of Industrial Performance and Manufacturing Sector in India’s Foreign Trade and
• An Industrial growth Monitor has been introduced which aims at monitoring the critical parameters that impact the performance of the industrial sector. The first issue of the Monitor was brought lout on 29.11.02.

• Coordinating the work relating to preparation of monthly summary for the Cabinet on behalf of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, comments on various Acts/Bills relating to Ceiling Laws, Industrial Relations, Companies Act, Labour Laws, Essential commodities Act, VAT Bills of the States, etc.;
• Coordinating the Research Work concerning various aspects of industrial development and growth and preparing analytical reports and
• Examining proposals for changes in fiscal policy relating to industrial goods and render advice on matters pertaining to changes in the tariff structure.

Research Studies

The office of the Economic Adviser has a major Plan scheme pertaining to Research Studies. The scheme is further divided into two segments, viz.,(a) Research Studies and computerization and (b) Construction of Corporate Services Price Index.

A Plan Scheme for conducting "Research Studies in Industrial Development" was initiated in 1989-90. Under this, research projects are undertaken within the Ministry ands are also assigned to research institutions on behalf of the Government of India. The purpose behind such studies is to disseminate information on important issues with a view to encourage discussion and facilitate policy formulation on various topical issues relating to industry. All these studies have been well received and found to be extremely helpful in policy formulation as well as implementation of plan programmes for the industrial development of the country.

The various proposals for research studies received from different research organizations/institutes are scrutinized and those found most relevant to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry are recommended to a Research committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Industrial Policy & Promotion) with the Secretary (SSI & Development Of North East Region), Additional Secretary & Financial Adviser and Economic Adviser, DIPP as members. The committee approves these studies to be undertaken by experts in various areas of industrial development.

As an outcome of computerization, most of the releases and publications of this Office are now available on the website of the Office.

This Office has initiated action for the creation of a corporate Services Price Index (CSPI), for which necessary funds have also been allocated for the first time in the Tenth Five Year Plan. Construction of CSPI will be helpful in many ways such as:

• To generate a deflator for service sector output for use in calculating GDP;
• To serve as a key indicator of inflation in the service sector; and
• Can subsequently be integrated with the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) to give a more comprehensive measure of inflation in the economy.

The progress made in the Scheme during April-December, 2002 includes the following:

• Review of Literature/practices in other countries has been undertaken;
• A Discussion paper on construction of corporate Services Price Index in India has been prepared; and
• Consultation process has been initiated with both government and non-government organizations for sector specific issues.

In addition, the Office of the Economic Adviser is required to give its views on various economic issues to the Prime Minister’s Office, Cabinet Secretariat, committee of Secretaries, Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises, Ministry of Small Scale Industry, Planning Commission, Ministry of Labour etc.