Wholesale price inflation rises to 1.84% in September against 1.31% in August

India's wholesale inflation rises to 1.84% in September, with food prices surging; vegetable prices nearly 49% costlier.

Inflation in India’s wholesale prices increased to 1.84% in September from 1.31% in August, with food prices surging 9.5% from a 10-month low of 3.3% in August as vegetables became nearly 49% costlier than last year, Government data released on Monday (October 14, 2024) showed.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) slightly increased due to a 4% drop in fuel and power prices from last September and a slight decrease in manufactured product inflation, easing a tad to 1%.

On a month-on-month basis, the WPI increased by 0.06%, with the food index showing the highest gain of 1.1%. Meanwhile, manufactured goods and primary articles’ prices increased by 0.14% and 0.41%, respectively.

Potato and Onion prices were up 78.1% and 78.8%, respectively, in September, accelerating from the previous month, while fruits and pulses inflation eased marginally from the previous month at 12.2% and 13%, respectively.

“The positive rate of inflation in September, 2024 is primarily due to the increase in prices of food articles, food products, other manufacturing, the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers, the manufacture of machinery & equipment and so on,” the Commerce and Industry Ministry said.

Cereals and paddy inflation eased fractionally to 8.1%, but wheat prices rose at a faster pace of 7.6% during September. Milk inflation cooled a bit to 3.2%, while eggs, meat and fish prices fell 0.8%, marking the second successive month of year-on-year decline in prices. Fuel and power prices fell 0.8% from August 2024 levels.

Manufactured food products’ recorded an inflation of 5.5% in September, while vegetable and animal oils and fats were up 10.5%, albeit on a benign basis last year when prices had fallen for both.