Construction Input Costs in India: Indices, Escalation and Contract Protection

India's headline wholesale price inflation was running at 9.78 per cent in July 2026, but the published item-level indices show that cement was flat year on year and reinforcement-grade steel was still below its 2022-23 base — while bitumen, cables, aluminium, copper and fabricated metalwork rose between 10 and 44 per cent. This report compiles what the official indices (WPI, Output PPI, the trial Input PPI, the Index of Core Industries) actually record for construction inputs as at July 2026, and sets out what is publicly verifiable about the index machinery Indian contracts rely on for price adjustment — including CPWD's clause 10CA circulars and DPIIT's stated intention to discontinue the WPI. It is a compilation of public data only; ARG collected none of it, and the points marked as interpretation are clearly identified as such.

Part of AECS Research Global's publications programme — drawing on ARG's work across cost management, EPC advisory and integrated project delivery. Download the full report below.