Wholesale Price Index to Shift Base Year to 2022-23
The government has approved a significant update to the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) by changing its base year from 2011-12 to 2022-23. This change was sanctioned during a meeting held on May 25, 2026, following a thorough review by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Statistics of Price and Cost of Living (SPCL) and subsequent presentation to the National Statistical Commission (NSC).
The Office of Economic Adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will introduce this revised WPI series on June 15, 2026, at noon. This new series will replace the previous WPI, establishing a foundation for more accurate economic analysis. Additionally, the government is set to roll out new Producer Price Indices (PPIs), including the Output Producer Price Index (OPPI), Trial Input Producer Price Index (IPPI), and Service Producer Price Index for seven key services: Banking, Securities Transactions, Insurance, Pension Fund Management, Railways, Air Passenger services, and Telecom.
To ease the transition for users relying on WPI for price escalation clauses, this new index will remain available for five years following its release, allowing stakeholders ample time to adapt to the new PPI framework. This shift aims to align India’s pricing practices with global standards championed by advanced economies and recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The new WPI and OPPI will be compiled monthly, with the first set of data covering May 2026 to be released along with historical data from April 2023 to April 2026 on the same date. The monthly Trial Input PPI will begin publication on an experimental basis in March 2026, allowing for data quality assessment and stakeholder feedback. The Service PPI will be compiled quarterly, with its inaugural report for Q4 of 2025-26 to include back data from Q1 of 2023-24 through Q3 of 2025-26.
Key Features of the Revised WPI
The restructured WPI series, now based on 2022-23, boasts several enhancements. The total number of items included has increased significantly from 697 to 957. The updated index also embeds new and renewable energy sources, such as Solar and Wind, under the electricity group, alongside Nuclear Electricity. Furthermore, Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas have been realigned from the ‘Primary Articles’ category to ‘Fuel and Power,’ fostering a more coherent structure for tracking energy prices.
The improved methodology for establishing weights utilizes Gross Value of Output (GVO) instead of the Net Traded Value previously applied. This shift enables a more accurate representation of commodity importance from the producer’s standpoint. Moreover, the computation methodology has been refined, employing a chain-based method for compiling elementary indices, contributing to greater accuracy in price tracking.
Finally, the implementation of a ‘Targeted Mean Imputation’ method for accounting for missing price data replaces the older Carry-forward method, indicative of a progressive move towards enhanced data integrity in the index compilation process. Overall, these adjustments reflect a commitment to modernizing India’s statistical frameworks to better serve its economy and stakeholders.
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