RBI tracks state-level growth with satellite lights and Google searches
Business
The Reserve Bank of India has found a cool new way to track how states are doing economically, by looking at satellite images of nighttime lights and what people are searching for on Google.
This approach helps predict state-level growth much more accurately (cutting errors by up to 62%) and gives faster updates than old-school methods.
RBI tests in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka
The RBI tested this method in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, using satellite light data and Google searches about jobs and money.
It worked impressively well, reducing estimation errors by 38% in Maharashtra, 54% in Karnataka, and 62% in Gujarat.
While it is still being tested, this could mean quicker, smarter statistics for tracking the economy across the three states.