OFFICE OF THE ECONOMIC ADVISER
DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE
भारत सरकार | वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय |
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA | MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY |
As recorded history goes, Wholesale Price Indices for India have been published from the period of the Second World War. The first Economic Adviser to the Government of India in pre-Independence India, Sir Theodore E.G. Gregory (period 1937-1946) had started the ‘quick’ series, using the week ended August 19 1939 as base, and computed the Index from the week commencing January 10, 1942. During a spring cleaning exercise in July 2014, a few registers of pre-Independence period, containing information on wholesale price for select items and wholesale price index were discovered. The earliest register was for the year 1915 containing wholesale prices for Calcutta, and also Wholesale Price Indices. This finding now entirely changes the recorded history of wholesale price indices prepared in India. The Office of the Economic Adviser celebrates this startling discovery and the above depicts a collage of images of pages from the old Registers, pertaining to years 1915, 1937, 1939 and 1947.