The newspapers and media are reporting that the inflation is –1.58% (for wholesale price index). The perception that is created is that prices are falling. That means as a regular person (i.e. non-VIP in the society) your day-to-day prices should come down. By this we mean the cost of a cup of tea at the Andhra tea stall, a plate of vegetable fried rice or Idli at Darshini Tiffins, the cost of a cool drink, cost of tooth paste or washing powder. However, we non-VIPs know the reality – the prices have actually increased not decreased.
So how do we explain this situation? The truth is that the WPI (Wholesale Price Index) being quoted is the number that may be required by the multi-billionaire business looking forward the establishing the next 1,000 crore factory or by some New York based Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) having 1 lakh crore rupees to invest in an emerging market.
The number that we the sensible, hard-working, and non-white ration cardholders need to look for is the CPI (Consumer Price Index). As per the official figures, the inflation rate in Hyderabad for the last 12 months is 13.18%
As usual, for us the non-VIP’s who are neither good for notes nor votes, things will always be a bit difficult to get hold of. But we are smart and the pride of India. Well, we are the reason why everyone wants to establish shop in India.
So here is a simple way for you to find this information on your own.
Basically, there are 3 types of CPI indices.
- Industrial worker
- Agricultural labor
- Rural labor
Since, considering CPI for either agricultural labor or rural labor for Hyderabad does not make sense, it is the CPI of Industrial worker that we should be using for calculating the inflation rate in Hyderabad.
According to Labor Bureau – Government of India, the CPI (for Industrial Workers) in Hyderabad has increased from 129 in April 2008 to 146 in April 2009. Based on these numbers the inflation should be calculated as follows:
Inflation rate = ([CPI-2009 – CPI-2008]/CPI-2008) * 100
Using the appropriate numbers in the above formula, the inflation rate of Hyderabad for April 2009 comes 13.18%. Simple, isn’t it?
So, the next time when newspapers give you the useless WPI inflation figures, you know how to figure out the correct inflation rate. So keeping coming back to this website to find useful information to help you stay ahead!