NEW DELHI, May 29 -- India will push back the release of its most closely watched economic numbers by a week in a move aimed at improving the quality of the data underpinning its Q4 and fiscal year provisional GDP estimates, as statisticians seek to better capture late-arriving corporate earnings and government accounts.

The statistics ministry has shifted the release of gross domestic product estimates for the January-March quarter and provisional full-year figures from the traditional 31 May schedule to 7 June each year (or the previous working day if that date is a holiday). This year, the data will be released on 5 June, Friday.

In a written response to Mint, the ministry said the change is intended to address constraints in data av...