New Delhi, July 14 -- India on Tuesday unveiled a new high-frequency indicator - a trial release of the Index of Services Production (ISP) - to provide a monthly measure of activity in the country's services sector, which accounts for more than half of its gross domestic product (GDP).

The index fills a long-standing gap in India's economic data, which has had the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for industry for decades, but no comparable high-frequency indicator for services. Together, these two indices can now provide a comprehensive picture of the state of India's economy.

The ISP measures changes in the real output of services, giving the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and financial markets a direct gauge of servic...