New series WPI, IIP released with base year 2011-12; April WPI at 3.85%, March IIP 2.7%

The government on Friday revised the base year for wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation  and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) to 2011-12 from 2004-05. As per the new series, April WPI inflation stood at 3.85 percent and March IIP at 2.7 percent. The Consumer Price Index-based inflation in April stood at 2.99 percent. A high-level panel had firmed up the methodology for the IIP with new base year of 2011-12. [caption id=“attachment_2955134” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] The change in baseline for the IIP and WPI is expected to bring in more accuracy in mapping the level of economic activity and calculating other numbers like national accounts. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has already changed the base year for the country’s national accounts, including the gross domestic product (GDP) and the gross value addition (GVA). The retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is already calculated on the base year of 2011-12. For long, economists and various think tanks have been pitching for release of new time series of WPI and IIP so that GDP numbers can be based on more accurate and realistic data. The base year is revised periodically to capture the changes in the structure and composition of the industry over time due to technological changes, economic reforms and consumption pattern of the people. The IIP gives a broad outlook on output of various types of goods like basic, consumer and capital ones, which helps in gauging the level of economic progress and investments in the economy According to the government press release, the WPI series in India has undergone six revisions in 1952-53, 1961-62, 1970-71, 1981-82, 1993-94 and 2004-05 so far. The current one is the seventh revision. “The revision entails shifting the base year to 2011-12 from 2004-05, changing the basket of commodities and assigning new weights to the commodities,” the release said. With inputs from PTI