When India releases its wholesale price index (WPI) later on Friday, the closely-watched inflation number may not have the same resonance for local markets as it once did.

That's because recent comments by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suggest the central bank is now placing a greater emphasis on the consumer price index (CPI) when it comes to setting monetary policy.

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"It is the right thing to do," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC (NYSE: HSFC'B). "Ultimately the goal of central banking is to anchor inflation expectations and therefore targeting the CPI is a more relevant measure of actual prices that consumers face on a day-to-day basis."

Inflation in India, struggling with sluggish economic growth, is down from double-digit rates seen last year but remains stubbornly high. That means it's likely to be a hot topic in this year's national elections.

In India, the CPI was introduced in 2011 and is a relatively new indicator.

"CPI has traditionally been the measure that most central banks would want to look at," said Rahul Bajoria, a regional economist at Barclays (London Stock Exchange: BARC-GB). "In the case of India, the only reason the WPI was watched more closely than the CPI is that it had more data and came out in a timely manner."

Economists say recent comments by new RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan suggest the central bank is now looking more closely at the CPI measure.

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So what?

And what does that mean for India's rate outlook? In short, say analysts, the CPI remains at what they describe as "elevated levels" and that suggests a tightening bias is likely to remain in place for now.

In January, the RBI lifted interest rates for the third time since September to help contain price pressures.

"We believe the next move is more likely to be up than down, particularly as Governor Rajan begins to focus on the task of bringing headline consumer price inflation down to 6 percent by early 2016," Robert Prior-Wandesforde, director for non-Japan Asia economics at Credit Suisse (Swiss Exchange: CSGN-CH), said in a note.

(Read more: India central bank surprises with rate hike )

HSBC's Neumann said he also anticipated another rate hike in the months ahead. The RBI next meets in April.

As for the WPI, analysts added they would continue to pay attention to the indicator. It is forecast to rise 5.8 percent in January from a year earlier, according to economists polled by Reuters, compared with a 6.16 percent increase in December.