The annual ‘Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy’ provides comprehensive database of macroeconomic and financial variables since 1998. Its electronic version is simultaneously released on the Reserve Bank's Data Warehouse ‘Database on Indian Economy (DBIE)’ (https://dbie.rbi.org.in), which is updated more frequently as per the data release calendar of the variables covered.

2. The Handbook for the year 2020-21, which is 23rd in the series, contains 237 statistical tables, covering time series on a wide range of variables/indicators pertaining to national income, output, prices, money, banking, financial markets, public finance, foreign trade, balance of payments and select socio-economic indicators at varying frequencies. It also incorporates presentational improvements, including format changes for some tables.

3. The publication has been brought out by a team in the Data Management and Dissemination Division (DMDD) in the Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM) under the overall guidance of Dr. A. R. Joshi, Principal Adviser. The team was led by Shri Debasis Nandi, Director and comprised of Smt. Jolly Roy, Shri Hari Om Tiwari and Ms. Archana Dilip, Assistant Advisers, Shri Ashis Nayak, Research Officer; Shri Srijan Hazra, Manager and Shri Abhishek Kailasrao Deshmukh and Ms. Pooja Narendra Nile, Assistants. Its compilation also involved officials from other Departments of the Bank, viz., Department of Currency Management, Department of Economic and Policy Research, Department of External Investment and Operations, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, Department of Regulation, Financial Markets Operations Department, Financial Markets Regulation Department, Internal Debt Management Department and Monetary Policy Department, as well as the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation. Their sincere efforts in ensuring timely updates and validation of reports have enabled the release of this publication as per the time schedule.

4. The combined effort of the team members has ensured that the real-time Handbook on the DBIE portal remains updated without any disruption despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which posed some operational challenges.

5. We welcome comments and suggestions on the Handbook, which may please be forwarded to the following address: The Director, Data Management and Dissemination Division, Department of Statistics and Information Management, Reserve Bank of India, C-9, 3rd Floor, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai 400051. Feedback may also be forwarded to us by e-mail or through a feedback button available on DBIE site.

Sd/-
(O. P. Mall)
Executive Director
September 15, 2021