Yes — India is updating how it calculates inflation, and this is a major methodological change in its official price statistics.
Fortune India
Centre to hold consultation on proposed base year changes for GDP, inflation, IIP calculation on Dec 23
December 31, 2025
Reuters
The Economic Times
India to cut food weighting in CPI in new inflation series
Food weight to decline to 36.75% in new CPI series
January 29
January 29
🔍 What's Being Changed (As of Early 2026)
New CPI Methodology & Base Year
• India is revamping its Consumer Price Index (CPI) — the main measure of retail inflation — with a new base year of 2024 = 100 replacing the old base from 2012. This makes the measure more aligned with current consumption patterns after more than a decade. �
• A revised CPI series is expected soon (around February-March 2026). �
Reuters
Fortune India
Changes in Basket Composition & Weights
• The CPI will now include 12 major spending categories instead of six. �
• The weight of food and beverages in the index will be reduced from about 45.86 % to 36.75 %, reflecting that households now spend relatively less on food and more on other services and items. �
• Items such as online services (e.g., OTT subscriptions) and travel (air, rail) from e-commerce and digital platforms will be included — bringing in new data sources like e-commerce pricing feeds over time. �
Reuters
Reuters +1
mint
Goal of the Revision
These updates aim to:
• Better reflect current household spending and consumption patterns.
• Reduce volatility in inflation measures (especially from food price swings).
• Align India's measures more closely with global standards and make them more informative for policy. �
Reuters
📊 Why This Matters
The CPI inflation figures—used by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for monetary policy decisions and by the government for index-linked benefits like Dearness Allowance—will shift slightly when the new series replaces the old one.
Reducing the food weight generally leads to less volatile headline inflation readings, because food prices tend to swing widely. �
The Economic Times
📅 Timeline
The new CPI series with updated weights/base year is being rolled out in early 2026 (around February). �
Fortune India
🧠 Broader Context
This change is part of a broader statistical overhaul that will also update other core indicators like GDP and industrial output base years so statistics reflect India's modern economy more accurately. �
Fortune India