One the of the problems we have to contend with in assessing inflation trends is the divergence between WPI and the CPIs which is due to differences in coverage and weights. Food has a weight of only 24 per cent in the WPI as against weights in the range of 37–70 per cent in the CPIs.
Metals and a few other bulk commodities, whose prices have been volatile in the recent period, have a weight of 10.7 per cent in WPI, but are not directly included in the CPIs. Services, whose prices have been on the rise, have weights in the range of 12–25 per cent in the CPIs but are not reflected in the WPI.