Commodities and their weightages in WPI calculation of India, Part I

As on today, India uses a basket of 435 commodities and a base year of 1993-94 for its Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation rate calculation. The 435 commodities used for finding WPI range from food items like rice, wheat to petroleum products to medicines and are given weightages depending upon their importance and impact on the economy. Discussions are going on to revise the number of commodities to 980 and base year to 2004-05.

The 435 commodities are divided to various groups and subgroups. Individual commodities, and as a result, groups and subgroups have weightages. On a broader level, the 435 commodities are grouped into,

1. Primary Articles
2. Fuel, Power, Light & Lubricants
3. Manufactured Products

Primary Articles consist of food grains, fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, meats and fishes, condiments and spices, fibers, oil seeds and minerals. Fuel, Power, Light & Lubricants consist of coal and petroleum related products, lubricants, electricity etc. Manufactured Products consist of dairy products, atta, biscuits, edible oils, liquors, cloth, toothpaste, batteries, automobiles etc. The group weightages are 22.02525%, 14.22624% and 63.74851% for Primary Articles, Fuel, Power, Light & Lubricants and Manufactured Products respectively. The total adds up to 100.

There are three more parts to this article. In the first part, we will cover Primary Articles, its sub classifications, individual commodities and their weightages. Second part is for Fuel, Power, Light & Lubricants, its sub classifications, individual commodities and their weightages and third part deals with Manufactured Products, its sub classifications, individual commodities and their weightages.

Series
- Commodities and their weightages in WPI calculation of India, Part I
- Commodities and their weightages in WPI calculation of India, Part II
- Commodities and their weightages in WPI calculation of India, Part III

Resources
- Office of the Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt. of India

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