Today, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) organised a workshop on the KLEMS – Capital (K); Labour (L); Energy (E); Materials (M); and Services (S) – Database in Mumbai. The KLEMS project is housed in the Centre for Development Economics (CDE) of the Delhi School of Economics (DSE). It is sponsored and fully funded by the RBI and the KLEMS database (1980-2016) is available in the RBI’s website at (data/manual). The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Viral V. Acharya, Deputy Governor. Comprising of five business sessions, the workshop commenced with presentations on the database by the KLEMS team. Professor K.L. Krishna, who leads the team, placed the India-KLEMS in a historical and global perspective. Professor B.N. Goldar provided a lucid introduction to the database. Shri Pilu Chandra Das explained the uses of various data sources of the construction of output and intermediate input series. Professor Suresh Chand Aggarwal delved into the role of labour as a factor input – employment levels as well quality thereof. Professor Deb Kusum Das addressed issues relating to capital stock and services.

The second session covered two presentations by the KLEMS team. Professor Deb Kusum Das evaluated growth and productivity in the 21st century comparing India and China. Professor B.N. Goldar discussed energy intensity in Indian industries and contribution of energy towards overall economic growth in India.

In the third session, presentations were made by the officers of the Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR), RBI on firm-size/productivity debate in India (Ms. Shromona Ganguly); drivers of shift of terms of trade in India in favour of agriculture (Ms. Priyanka Bajaj and Mr. Sarthak Gulati); the relationship between productivity and inflation volatility for different sectors of the economy (Mr. Saurabh Sharma); a new approach to estimating the Phillips-Curve (PC) relationship to assess inflation dynamics in India (Mr. Silu Muduli and Mr. Bhanu Pratap); and finally, by Dr. Harendra K. Behera on estimation of India’s potential output using KLEMS data.

The workshop closed with a panel discussion, led by Prof. K.L. Krishna and included participants viz., Prof. T.C.A. Anant and Prof. Pami Dua from DSE, Prof. Chetan Ghate from Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, Prof. Pushpa Trivedi and Prof. K. Narayanan from IIT Bombay and Prof. Ganesh Kumar from IGIDR, deliberating on ways to improve KLEMS data and the research issues that can be addressed by using these data in India. The representatives from Central Statistical Organisation (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) provided insights through discussion on the data quality and its availability.

Ajit Prasad
Assistant Adviser

Press Release : 2018-2019/144