“Statistics Ministry Initiates Base Revision of Consumer Price Index (CPI)”

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has initiated the base revision of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), aimed at improving coverage, refining methodologies, exploring new data sources, and leveraging modern technology for price collection and index compilation.

This revision gains significance following the launch of the Government of India’s free food grain distribution scheme from January 1, 2023, which covers 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population. Accurate reflection of this scheme in CPI and inflation measurement has become a key consideration.

MoSPI has engaged extensively with national and international experts, the Reserve Bank of India, the International Monetary Fund, UN institutions, and other government bodies. A brainstorming session on November 20, 2024, and the publication of the first discussion note in December 2024, helped shape the proposed methodology.

In Discussion Paper 2.0, MoSPI has incorporated suggestions and feedback from these interactions. The Ministry now invites comments from experts, academicians, state governments, financial institutions, and other stakeholders on the treatment of free PDS items in the CPI compilation framework.

The Discussion Paper 2.0 is available on MoSPI’s official website and the CPI warehouse . Comments and suggestions can be sent to psd-nso2020@mospi.gov.in by October 22, 2025.