New Delhi, Jan 30 (.) The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has placed in the public domain the recommendations of an expert group on revising India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), proposing a new base year of 2023-24 to better reflect evolving consumption patterns and global best practices.
An analysis by SBI Research suggests that applying the new weights to existing indices could raise headline CPI inflation marginally by 20-30 basis points, while periods of high food inflation may see the revised CPI lower by a similar margin.
“By considering the new weights on unchanged index we have calculated New CPI with old indices and found that overall CPI will increase marginally by 20-30 bps. While, in the months when food inflation is higher, the new CPI will be low by 20-30 bps,” the report said.
The weight of food and beverages in the CPI basket has been reduced to 36.75% from 45.86%, while transport, information and communication has increased significantly to 12.41%.
The first CPI 2024 data release is scheduled for February 12, 2026, providing index data from January 2025 onwards and inflation figures for January 2026. MoSPI will also release a back series at the all-India level for rural, urban, and combined indices from January 2013 onwards.
According to the report, price data will be collected from 1,465 rural markets and 1,395 urban markets across 434 towns. The basket will see an expansion in goods to 314 items and services to 50 items.
As many as 12 online markets in cities with populations exceeding 2.5 million will be added to capture prices from e-commerce platforms on a weekly basis.
The revised CPI series, referred to as CPI 2024, will adopt the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) 2018 framework to enhance international comparability.
The new index will comprise 358 weighted items, up from the earlier series, mapped across 12 divisions, 43 groups, 62 classes, and 192 sub-classes.
The expert group has also recommended methodological changes, including the use of Jevon’s short index formula at the elementary level, standardized pricing for gold and silver jewellery, and centralized price collection for items such as fuel, telecom services, and electricity.
Employer-provided accommodation and free social transfers will be excluded from the new CPI series.
. VK SAS PRS