The government has revamped the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) system from August. An announcement to this effect was made by Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry at a press conference in New Delhi today. In the new series, the inflation stood at 8.5% for August. The overall inflation for August was 9.5% as per the old series (base year 1993-94).
Mr. Sharma informed that the new WPI series has been prepared by shifting the base year from 1993-94 to 2004-05. Moreover, the new series would include commodities for the calculation of WPI. While 400 odd products are added to the goods basket, about 200 outdated items are dropped from it. Added products include gold, silver, refrigerators, computers, television, VCD, dish antenna, washing machine, microwave oven, mineral water, readymade food and crude petroleum. The inclusion of new items that are widely used by middle-class would help in tracking the changing consumption pattern.
“It (the new series) will help in informing both the government and people how the prices are moving. This will give a robust picture and reflect actual price movement,” Mr. Sharma said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee remained optimistic when he said, “Inflationary pressure is still there because food prices have gone up because of the erratic monsoon, but I do hope annualized inflation would be much lower in the new series.”
“The change in base would improve the accuracy and make the index less prone to fluctuations,” said TCA Anant, chief statistician of India. He added, “The commodity basket will be analyzed every quarter, even though the groups will remain fixed.”
The new WPI series is based on the recommendations of a working group headed by Abhijit Sen, member, Planning Commission.



