Ramesh Chand Panel

On 2nd January 2025, the government decided to constitute an 18-member panel chaired by NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand.

The panel has been set up to revise the base year of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and suggest a roadmap for transition to the Producer Price Index (PPI).

Key Mandates of the Panel

Mandate	Details
Base Year Revision	Update the WPI base year from 2011-12 to 2022-23.
Commodity Basket	Develop a revised commodity basket for both WPI and PPI to reflect structural changes in the economy.
Methodology	Recommend computational methodology for WPI and PPI.
Price Collection System	Review the existing system of price collection and suggest improvements.
Timeline	Submit the report to the Office of the Economic Adviser within 18 months.

About Wholesale Price Index (WPI)

Feature	Details
Released By	Office of Economic Adviser, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Meaning	Measures changes in prices of goods sold and traded in bulk at the wholesale level.
Limitation	Does not fully reflect inflation faced by the common public, as consumers buy at retail prices.
Service Sector	Excludes the service sector, which accounts for about 55% of GDP.
Number of Items	Covers 697 items: 117 primary goods, 16 fuel and power items, and 564 manufactured products.

WPI Base Year Revisions

Stage	Base Year
Initial WPI Series	Introduced in 1942 with base year 1939.
Earlier Revisions	1952-53, 1961-62, 1970-71, 1981-82, 1993-94, 2004-05 and 2011-12.
Current Series	Current WPI base year 2011-12 series was launched in May 2017.

Why Shift from 2011-12 to 2022-23?

Reason	Explanation
Periodic Revision	Base year should ideally be revised every five years to reflect current economic realities.
Structural Economic Change	The economy has changed due to new sectors, digitalisation, and post-pandemic adjustments.
Statistical Relevance	Base year revision is relevant for indicators such as IIP, WPI, and CPI.

What is Base Year?

Concept	Explanation
Meaning	A base year is the reference year whose prices are used to calculate real growth after removing inflation.
Use in GDP	It acts as a benchmark for GDP calculation; for example, if 2011-12 is the base year, GDP of other years is adjusted to 2011-12 prices.

PT Facts

WPI: Measures wholesale-level price changes.
CPI: Measures retail inflation faced by consumers.
PPI: Measures price changes from the producer’s perspective.
Current WPI Base Year: 2011-12.

Source:

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