India’s wholesale inflation at 0.53% in March, food rates simmer

India’s wholesale price index (WPI) inflation stood at 0.53% year-on-year in March 2024, the Ministry of Commerce and Industries said in a release on Monday, April 15. The number is sharper as compared to a wholesale inflation rate of 0.2% recorded in February and 0.33% in January.

The jump in WPI inflation is “primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, electricity, crude petroleum and natural gas, machinery and equipment, and other manufacturing”, the commerce ministry said.

The WPI inflation in the primary articles category – that comprises food, minerals, crude petroleum and natural gas – increased to 4.51% in March from 4.49% in the preceding month.

In the fuel and power category – comprising electricity, coal and mineral oil – the wholesale inflation stood in the negative at -0.77%, as compared to -1.59% in February.

The rate of inflation was also negative in the manufactured products category at -0.85%, as against -1.27% in the preceding month.

Wholesale food prices simmer

The food index inflation climbed to 4.65% in March, the commerce ministry data showed. The index comprises food products that fall under the primary articles category and those categorised under manufactured products.

The wholesale food prices have been on the upward trend over the past few months, with the food index inflation standing at 3.85% in January and 4.09% in February.

A higher wholesale food inflation may raise concern for policymakers, as its impact could be felt in the retail market in the coming period, economists said.

Meanwhile, the retail food and beverages inflation rate dropped marginally to 7.68% in March, from 7.8% in February, as per the data shared by the Ministry of Statistics on April 12.

The overall consumer price index (CPI) inflation in March dropped to a 10-month low of 4.85%, which is still above the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4%. In the preceding month of February, the retail inflation rate stood at 5.09%.