New WPI likely by year-end

The new series of wholesale price index (WPI) with 2000-01 as the base year is expected to be rolled out before December.

According to Sudhir Chandra, technical director of National Informatics Centre, checking and validating the data will consume significant time. "We are, however, sure to put it in place before the end of this calendar year," he added.

Chandra was in Hyderabad to speak at a workshop on "New series of Wholesale Price Index (base 2000-01) - Collection of required data" organised by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry in association with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi.

During the workshop, Chandra said that the proposed series would have to take into account 1,200 items and 6,000 price quotations as compared with 435 items and 1,918 price quotations being considered based on the 1993-94 series.

The small scale industries (SSI) sector is  being included for calculation of the WPI for the first time, he added.

Chandra said that collection of data on a weekly basis from the SSI sector would remain a challenge. "That is why we have taken a cluster or region-based approach for collection of data from the SSI sector," he added.

Chandra said that they were considering facilitating digital signatures so that data confidentiality could be maintained. "This is because there have been apprehensions of data confidentiality as data on prices can be very sensitive from the point of view of competition," he added.