February Wholesale Price Index data to be released on March 14, here's what to expect

The Indian government will release the wholesale price index (WPI) data for the month of February on Tuesday, March 14. The Wholesale Price Index or WPI measures the change in prices of goods that wholesale businesses sell to and trade in bulk with other companies. Unlike the CPI which tracks prices of goods and services purchased by consumers, WPI tracks factory gate prices before retail prices.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry releases WPI. Under the index, commodities are categorised into three groups — primary articles (which is further divided into food and non-food article), fuel and power and manufactured products, and the base year for the index is 2011-12.

The February WPI is estimated at 3.9 percent against 4.73 percent in the previous month. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, the WPI is estimated in the range of 3.4 percent to 4.1 percent, while the core WPI is estimated at 2.08 percent against 2.8 percent in January. Core inflation is likely to soften in February due to easing prices of industrial commodities.