RBI launches Quarterly Order Books, Inventories and Capacity Utilisation Survey: July – September 2026 (Round 75)
Distilled Policy Brief
- The survey collects quantitative data on new orders, backlog of orders, pending orders, item-wise production, and total inventories with a breakup of finished goods (FG), work-in-progress (WiP), and raw material (RM) to estimate capacity utilisation (CU).
- The findings of the OBICUS provide valuable input for the formulation of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy.
🎯 Prelims High-Yield Examination Points
Order Books, Inventories and Capacity Utilisation Survey (OBICUS)
⚖️ Mains Analytical & Syllabus Linkages
Role of high-frequency indicators and central bank surveys in monetary policy formulation
🎯 UPSC Prelims Practice Drill
With reference to the 'Order Books, Inventories and Capacity Utilisation Survey' (OBICUS) conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), consider the following statements: 1. It is conducted on a quarterly basis to collect quantitative data specifically from the manufacturing sector. 2. It helps estimate capacity utilisation by analyzing data on new orders, backlogs, and inventories categorized into finished goods, work-in-progress, and raw materials. 3. To ensure transparency in monetary policy formulation, the individual company-level data collected during the survey is published on the RBI website. Which of the statements given above are correct?
- [A] 1 and 2 only
- [B] 2 and 3 only
- [C] 1 and 3 only
- [D] 1, 2 and 3
▶ Reveal Official Answer & Analytical Explanation
Statements 1 and 2 are correct. The OBICUS is a quarterly survey conducted by the RBI since 2008 for the manufacturing sector to estimate capacity utilisation (CU) using metrics like order books, production, and inventories. Statement 3 is incorrect because company-level data collected during the survey is treated as strictly confidential and is never disclosed to the public.
🏛️ Historical Twin PYQ Anchor (2021)
Consider the following statements regarding the "National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)": 1. It is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2. Central Pollution Control Board acts as the sole regulatory executive body.