Index Numbers of Commodity Prices and Industries

Index Numbers of Commodity Prices and Industries In India index numbers are constructed for a wide range of economic subjects and their use is constantly increasing. The construction of index numbers started in India as early as the last quarter of 19th century. The main use of index numbers is to facilitate the assessment of average changes over the years with regard to wide range of economic activities. Many official and non-official agencies compile and publish index numbers of various kind. Index number of industrial production The Index Number of Industrial production was first compiled by the Office of theEconomic Adviser to the Government of India with base 1937 = 100. The index has been revised from time to time with respect to the base year, the basis of weighing and the coverage of items. The current index number is with base 1970 = 100 and the items covered are divided into four groups, viz. , i. Basic industries, it. Capital goods industries, iii. Intermediate goods indus tries and ‘v. Consumer goods industries. Index numbers of commodity prices Index Number of commodity prices may be broadly classified as index number of wholesale prices and index number of retail prices. ) Index number of wholesale prices- The wholesale price index number are of two types: i. The general purpose index is constructed with a view to reflect the changes taking place in the general price level; hence it includes a large number of commodities. i'. A sensitive index on the other hand serves as an indicator of the movements of the general price levels and it includes only few important commodities which generally react quickly to the market trends. The current index number of wholesale prices has 1970-71 as the base year. (b) Index number of retail prices- The chief retail price index numbers ompiled in India are i.Labour bureau index number of retail prices for urban centres and it. Labour bureau index number of retail prices for rural centres. The Labour Bureau, M inistry of Labour, Government of India, compiles and publishes the index number of retail prices for 18 selected urban centres and 11 selected rural centres in various parts of the country on monthly basis. The index number initially had 1944 as the base. Now the construction of this index number is discontinued and it is replaced by simple price relatives of certain selected articles of consumption ith the calendar year 1960 as base year. c) Consumer price index numbers- The consumer price index number compiled and published by the Labour Bureau are important indicators of the changing economic situation in the country. At all India level three different series of consumer price index numbers are compiled. They are: i. Consumer price index of industrial workers, it. Consumer price index for non-manual employees and iii. Consumer price index for agricultural labourers. http://classofl . com/homework-help/statistics-homework-help/