Current WPI series to be scrapped, new one with 2017-18 as base yr on cards

Approval of various committees being sought before the new series is released

The government is at an advanced stage of finalising the new Wholesale Price Index (WPI) series that aims to capture the structural changes taking place in the economy over time. The new base year will be 2017-18, government officials said.

Wholesale inflation rate, measured by WPI, is a crucial measure to capture the dynamic price movements in commodities for bulk buy by traders. The current series of WPI — with base year of 2011-12 —was the seventh revision of WPI and implemented from 2017 onwards.

“At present, approval of various committees are being sought. Once the approval process is completed,