Thursday, October 16, 2008

Index Numbers of Wholesale Prices in India (Base: 1993-94=100)Review for the week ended 4th October 2008

The official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' (Base: 1993-94 = 100) for the week ended 4th October 2008 declined by 0.5 percent to 239.6 (Provisional) from 240.7 (Provisional) for the previous week.

The annual rate of inflation, calculated on point to point basis, stood at 11.44 percent (Provisional) for the week ended 04/10/2008 (over 06/10/2007) as compared to 11.80 percent (Provisional) for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation stood at 3.22 percent as on 06/10/2007 i.e. a year ago.

The rate of inflation, based on average monthly WPI, which was 12.49 percent (Provisional) for the month of August 2008, also eased by 0.45 percentage points to 12.04 percent (Provisional) in September 2008.

The movement of the index for the various commodity groups is summarized below:-

1. PRIMARY ARTICLES (Weight 22.02%)

The index for this major group rose by 0.2 percent to 251.4 (Provisional) from 250.9 (Provisional) for the previous week. The groups and items for which the index showed variations during the week are as follows:-

The index for 'Food Articles' group rose by 0.7 percent to 243.3 (Provisional) from 241.7 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of ragi (11%), fruits & vegetables (3%) and bajra (2%).

The index for 'Non-Food Articles' group declined by 1.0 percent to 239.8 (Provisional) from 242.1 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of raw rubber (18%) and groundnut seed (1%). However, the prices of castor seed and gingelly seed (1% each) moved up.

The annual rate of inflation, calculated on point to point basis, for ‘Primary Articles’ stood at 12.68 percent (Provisional) for the week ended 04/10/2008 as compared to 11.17 percent (Provisional) in the previous week. It was 4.99 percent as on 06/10/2007 i.e. a year ago.

The annual rate of inflation for ‘Food Articles’ stood at 9.69 percent (Provisional) for the week ended 04/10/2008 as compared to 7.61 percent (Provisional) in the previous week. It was 2.78 percent as on 06/10/2007 i.e. a year ago.

2. FUEL, POWER, LIGHT & LUBRICANTS (Weight 14.23%)

The index for this major group declined by 1.1 percent to 371.1 (Provisional) from 375.3 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of naphtha (11%), aviation turbine fuel (6%) and furnace oil (5%). However, the prices of bitumen (4%) moved up.

3. MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS (Weight 63.75%)

The index for this major group declined by 0.5 percent to 206.1 (Provisional) from 207.2 (Provisional) for the previous week. The groups and items for which the index showed variations during the week are as follows:-

The index for 'Food Products' group declined by 2.4 percent to 208.1 (Provisional) from 213.3 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of oilcakes (12%), imported edible oil (5%), rice bran oil (3%) and cottonseed oil (1%). However, the prices of gur (4%), salt (2%) and gingelly oil (1%) moved up.

The index for 'Textiles' group rose by 0.1 percent to 140.3 (Provisional) from 140.2 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of texturised yarn (2%).

The index for 'Basic Metals, Alloys & Metal Products' group declined by 0.6 percent to 297.8 (Provisional) from 299.6 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of other iron steel (11%), basic pig iron and foundary pig iron (6% each), lead ingots (4%) and zinc ingots and zinc (2% each). However, the prices of steel wire ropes (5%) and steel wire (4%) moved up.

The index for 'Machinery & Machine Tools' group rose by 0.1 percent to 176.3 (Provisional) from 176.1 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of complete tractors (2%).

The index for 'Transport, Equipment & Parts' group rose by 0.1 percent to 176.4 (Provisional) from 176.3 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of automobile cables (5%).

4. FINAL INDEX FOR THE WEEK ENDED 9th August 2008.

For the week ended 09/08/2008, the final wholesale price index for 'All Commodities’ (Base: 1993-94=100) stood at 241.1 as compared to 240.7 (Provisional) and annual rate of inflation based on final index, calculated on point to point basis, stood at 12.82 percent as compared to 12.63 percent (Provisional) reported earlier.

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