Revised CPI series may track more markets, ecom data in major cities

Currently, monthly price data is collected from 1181 villages and 1114 markets in 310 selected towns by the field operations division of the NSO

To make the revised consumer price index (CPI) series more robust and representative of price changes, the number of physical markets from where price data is collected will be increased to 2,900 from nearly 2,300 now, official sources told Business Standard.   

Currently, the National Statistical Office’s (NSO’s) field operations division gathers monthly price data from 1,181 villages and 1,114 markets across 310 selected towns. Under the revised methodology, price data will also be collected from online marketplaces in 12 of the country’s most populous cities, each having a population of more than 2.5 million.

 

The new series is slated to be launched in February 2026. 

“The number of physical markets is being increased by nearly 25 per cent. Also, we will begin collecting online price data from the top 12 cities, which will give us a sense of prices prevailing in the e-commerce space,” an official said.

 

According to the 2011 Census, these 12 cities include Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Kanpur.

 

“However, we are mindful of the sharp price fluctuations that happen in online markets due to deep discounting, sales, promotional offers, or surge pricing. We are in the deliberation stage to figure that out,” the official added. 

According to a report in March, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation was considering the creation of a separate e-commerce index to track household consumption via online platforms. While discussions have taken place, the idea remains at a preliminary stage.

  “We have held discussions on developing a separate index for online markets. However, it is still in the preliminary stage and may take more time to materialise,” the official said. 

 

Among other changes proposed in the new CPI series, there will no longer be any redistribution of weights for temporarily missing items, as is followed currently. Moreover, price data for transportation services, such as railways and airways, will be collected online, instead of from ticket counters. The revised series will also begin tracking prices for over-the-top streaming services.

 

“Often, when enumerators go to collect data, prices for certain items are unavailable because the shop is closed or the item is out of stock. At present, the weight of such items is redistributed among others. In the new series, this weight won't be redistributed. The weightage for each item in the index will be finalised in the next two to three months,” the official said.

 

The statistics ministry is in the process of revising its key macroeconomic indicators — CPI, Index of Industrial Production (IIP), and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Apart from updating the base years to 2022-23 for GDP and IIP, and 2024 for CPI, the revision is also slated to see changes to the methodology used to compute the indicators.