New Delhi, April 30 (Inditop.com) The Indian government is likely to come out with a new series of wholesale price index (WPI) by June-July that will give a more realistic picture of inflation in the country.
“We plan to roll out the new WPI series in June or July. The whole basket of items will be adjusted. It will have 600-700 items as against 435 items at present. The new series will provide a more realistic picture of price rise,” Secretary with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) R.P. Singh told reporters here on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Most of the new additions will be done in the manufacturing products category. The weightage of groups in the new series is likely to change by one to three percent.
The new series will have mobile phones and LCD TVs, replacing type writers and VCRs.
The new index will have 2004-05 as the base year. At present, the base year is 1993-94.
The DIPP has shared the WPI trial data with the Reserve Bank of India, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), and the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).
“The trial is on,” Singh said.
On the government’s stand on the ownership issue of ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, which have over 74 per cent foreign holding, Singh said, “At best, the two can be called as Indian-controlled banks. But as per definition, they are certainly not owned by Indians.”
He said that ICICI Bank Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar had met him Wednesday to discuss the issue. ICICI has maintained that it continues to be an Indian bank as its management and board are Indian.
Singh also said his department will come out with discussion papers on foreign investment norms in sectors like retail, defence, pharmaceutical and agriculture in mid-May.
“In one paper, which we will bring out on the financial aspects, banks will also be covered. We will seek public comments on these papers.”
