Explainer | India Macro
India Is Retiring the WPI: What the New Producer Price Index Changes
Published 14 July 2026, IST | Pune
India’s wholesale inflation hit a record 9.87 per cent in June 2026, but the bigger shift is quieter: the Wholesale Price Index that produced this number is being retired and replaced by a globally standard Producer Price Index that, for the first time, also measures services.
On 14 July 2026, the Government reported that wholesale price inflation rose to 9.87 per cent in June. The same release carried something larger than the number itself. India is moving from its decades-old Wholesale Price Index (WPI) to a new Producer Price Index (PPI), bringing its inflation data in line with global practice.
Tap the tabs to compare. Source: PIB, Office of Economic Adviser.
What is happening
Wholesale price inflation reached 9.87 per cent in June 2026, a record under the new 2022-23 base series, up from 9.68 per cent in May. Alongside the WPI, the Office of Economic Adviser now also publishes an Output Producer Price Index and a trial Input Producer Price Index every month, with a Service PPI released quarterly. The WPI itself is being wound down.
Why it matters
For decades India was an outlier, tracking wholesale prices of goods while most advanced economies used a producer price index that also covered services. The new PPI closes that gap. It brings services such as banking, insurance, telecom, railways and air travel into producer inflation for the first time, and makes India’s data comparable across borders for investors and the International Monetary Fund. It also means the headline 9.87 per cent is a milestone reading on a gauge that is on its way out.
When is it happening
The revised WPI series with base year 2022-23, along with the new producer price indices, was released on 15 June 2026. The Government will publish WPI and PPI together for five years, and discontinue the WPI after that, giving businesses time to switch.
Why it is happening
The Office of Economic Adviser says the change follows global best practice and the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund. The old WPI used a 2011-12 base and 697 items; the revised basket expands to 957. Publishing both input and output PPI shows how cost pressure on producers for their inputs passes through to the prices they charge for output.
What it means next
For now, the June number is driven mainly by fuel. Fuel and power inflation ran at 27.41 per cent, though it eased from 30.33 per cent in May, reflecting last year’s low crude base rather than fresh demand. Food articles rose 5.49 per cent. Price escalation clauses in many contracts will keep using WPI during the five-year overlap, so the old index still matters commercially. Over time, the PPI and its services coverage will give a fuller read on India’s producer inflation.
Sources: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Provisional Estimates of Wholesale Price Index for June 2026 (Release ID 2284374), view release; and Press Release on New Series of Wholesale Price Index and Producer Price Indices with Base Year 2022-23 (Release ID 2272872), view release. Related on Agavart: India CPI June 2026.