India's wholesale inflation rises to three-month high of 0.53% in March

The WPI data comes days after the statistics ministry said that India's headline retail inflation stood steady at 4.85 percent in March.

India's wholesale inflation rate quickened to three-month high of 0.53 percent in February, mainly driven by food and primary articles, data released by the commerce ministry on April 15 showed.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation stood at 0.2 percent in February and 1.34 percent in March 2023. Food prices rose 4.65 per cent  as compared with an increase of 4.09 percent in February.

The WPI data comes days after the statistics ministry said that India's headline retail inflation eased to a 10-month low of 4.85 percent in March. The headline retail inflation rate has stayed above the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4 percent for 54 months in a row.

The annual rate of inflation for Primary Articles of WPI increased slightly to 4.51 percent in March 2024 from 4.49 percent in February 2024.

The annual rate of inflation for Fuel & Power of WPI increased to (-) 0.77 percent in March 2024 as compared to (-) 1.59 percent in February 2024.

The annual rate of inflation of Manufactured Products group of WPI increased to (-) 0.85 percent in March 2024 as compared to (-) 1.27 percent in February 2024.

For the fiscal year ended March 31 the wholesale inflation index fell 0.7 percent versus a 9.41 percent rise a year ago.