MoSPI to use date from e-comm, online platforms for air/rail fare, OTT platforms, beside others for new CPI series
MoSPI is expanding its approach by exploring alternative data sources,
New series of retail inflation data, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), is set to have multiple data sources including e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart and OTT alongside air and train ticketing portals, a senior government official said. The government aims to capture the shifting consumption and shopping preferences of Indian consumers.
“The possibility of collecting price data from e-commerce websites is being considered,” Saurabh Garg, Secretary at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) told businessline. However, industry sources said they are awaiting clarity on the details of the mechanism that will be implemented for collection of such data.
Alternative data sources
Meanwhile, Garg informed that for the new CPI series, MoSPI is expanding its approach by exploring alternative data sources, such as online platforms for airfare, rail ticketing, OTT platforms and administrative records for price data of petrol, diesel and LPG. “The Ministry is exploring the use of scanner data and web scraping to enhance the accuracy, efficiency and comprehensiveness of price data collection,” he said.
For the new CPI series, 2024 will replace 2012 as the base year as the base prices are collected by MoSPI in 2024. The item basket and weights of the new CPI series will be based on HCES (Household Consumption Expenditure Survey) 2023-24. The new CPI series is expected to be published from the first quarter of 2026. As of now the the price data are collected from selected 1,114 urban Markets and 1,181 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of National Statistics Office.
Commenting on expanding data sources, Rishi Shah, Partner and Economic Advisory Services Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat, termed this as a “progressive move”, which looks to leverage India’s massive digital ecosystem-with UPI processing 185.8 billion transactions in FY25, accounting for 83.7 per cent of total digital transaction volumes, and 270 million online shoppers projected to grow 22 per cent yearly.
“By sourcing real-time data from Amazon and Flipkart, we’d be capturing genuine market dynamics along with reliance on traditional surveys. This enables identification of price pressures as they develop, while cross-verification against broader datasets ensures integrity,” he said. Further, this will ensure that the result is more robust with timely inflation measurement reflecting actual consumption patterns in India’s rapidly digitising economy,” he added.
It may be noted that while Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based wholesale price inflation comprises goods only while retail inflation takes price trends of both goods and services. Since 2016, CPI is being used for all the policy matters, most significantly Monetary Policy Committee. In July 2025, retail inflation fell to a 25-month low of 1.55 per cent, while wholesale inflation was (-)0.58 per cent, the lowest in two years. Both indexes remained subdued, with headline inflation down 55 basis points from June. This moderation was largely due to falling food prices, a wider deflation in primary articles, and supportive base effects.
Published on August 25, 2025
