Chaudhuri panel submits report on WPI

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A panel headed by Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri has submitted its report on the new Wholesale Price Index (WPI), likely to come into effect from September.

"We have submitted the report," said a member of the committee.

The new index will have a base year of 2009-10, against the current base year of 2004-05. However, the report also recommends migration to a base year of 2011-12, when the government wants to adopt this. Besides, the panel has proposed omitting excide duty from the WPI, as there is no undue impact of a change in the duty on inflation.

The panel recommends increasing the number of commodities in the index to about 900, against the current 600. If the proposals are implemented, some items such as bitter gourd and chilli powder, hitherto placed in the 'non-included anywhere' category, will be included in the main category.

In the index, the weight of manufacturing items could rise two percentage points, at the expense of food and fuel & power. The weight of primary food items might decline 0.5-1 percentage points. Currently, primary articles, including food items, have a weight of about 20.12 per cent in the WPI, while fuel & power account for 14.91 per cent. Manufactured products account for 64.97 per cent, the most. In the new index, manufactured food items are expected to account for nine per cent, against the current 9.9 per cent.