Economics · Ch 7 — Index Numbers
Consumer Price Index Number
7.4.2
Consumer Price Index Number
India's government agencies prepare several consumer price index numbers, differing in the population they cover and their base year (values shown are for May 2017):
- Industrial Workers, base 2001 = 100 → 278
- Agricultural Labourers, base 1986-87 = 100 → 872
- Rural Labourers, base 1986-87 = 100 → 878
- All-India Rural, base 2012 = 100 → 133.3
- All-India Urban, base 2012 = 100 → 129.3
- All-India Combined, base 2012 = 100 → 131.4
The Reserve Bank of India uses the All-India Combined CPI as its main measure of how consumer prices are changing, so it deserves detail. Its base-2012 series was revised to international standards, with the basket and weighting drawn from the Modified Mixed Reference Period (MMRP) data of the Consumer Expenditure Survey 2011-12 (68th NSS Round). The major-group weights are:
| Major group | Weight |
|---|---|
| Food and beverages | 45.86 |
| Pan, tobacco and intoxicants | 2.38 |
| Clothing and footwear | 6.53 |
| Housing | 10.07 |
| Fuel and light | 6.84 |
| Miscellaneous | 28.32 |
| General | 100.00 |