Ahmedabad: The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation is considering starting the e-commerce price index to monitor the prices of goods and services available on digital platforms. The new index will include statistical estimates of the value of goods and services purchased by people through e-commerce companies.
Sources said that this will be on the lines of measuring retail inflation based on inflation of goods originating from factories based on current consumer price index and wholesale price index. They will tell us comparative prices of goods purchased by consumers and industries respectively.
This is important because India’s e-commerce market is expected to reach Rs 1000 crore by 2022 according to GlobalData’s e-commerce analysis. By 2028, it will increase from Rs 12.2 lakh crore to Rs 12.2 lakh crore. It is expected to be Rs 24.1 lakh crore. On the other hand, the Internet connection in India was 895 million in June 2023, while the number of smartphones is expected to cross 1.1 billion by 2025.
To prepare the index, the government has asked e-commerce companies to share the data of various goods and services sold in the last few months. Letters have also been sent to various ministries and departments to collect data.
Like CPI, the new e-commerce price index will also include food products, costumes and shoes, housing, fuel and lighting, health, education, entertainment and entertainment and other items sold through e-commerce.
