New Series of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Producer Price Indices (PPI) with Base Year 2022-23

📌 Summary:

• Office of Economic Adviser (DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry) released the revised WPI series with base year 2022-23, replacing the 2011-12 base series
• New Producer Price Indices launched: Output PPI (OPPI), Trial Input PPI (IPPI), and Service PPI for 7 services (Banking, Securities Transaction, Insurance, Pension Fund Management, Railways, Air Passenger, Telecom)
• WPI will be released for only 5 more years alongside PPI and then discontinued — a planned WPI-to-PPI transition aligned with IMF recommendations and global best practice of advanced economies
• Items increased from 697 to 957; Solar, Wind and Nuclear electricity added under 'Electricity'; Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas shifted from 'Primary Articles' to 'Fuel & Power' for coherent energy-price tracking
• Weights now derived from Gross Value of Output (GVO) instead of Net Traded Value (GVO + Imports − Exports), better reflecting domestic production
• Improved methods: short-term formulation for elementary indices and 'Targeted Mean Imputation' (replacing 'Carry Forward') for missing prices
• WPI & Output PPI released monthly (May 2026 provisional); Service PPI quarterly (Q4 2025-26)

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 Economy — inflation measurement and index methodology; rationale for India's shift from WPI to a producer-price framework

📝 Prelims Facts:

• WPI new base year: 2022-23 (old 2011-12); items up from 697 to 957
• Compiled by the Office of the Economic Adviser under DPIIT
• Output PPI/WPI monthly; Service PPI quarterly; Service PPI covers 7 services in phase 1

🔑 Key Term: Producer Price Index (PPI) — measures the average change over time in selling prices received by domestic producers for their output (and prices paid for inputs), unlike WPI which tracks transaction prices of goods in wholesale markets.