Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation increased 0.26 percent in November from the previous year. This was due to the increase in the prices of food articles, minerals, machinery and equipment, computers, electronics and optical products, motor vehicles, and other manufacturing.
Although rising above zero in November, when looking at the average WPI inflation for the first eight months of 2023-24, it stays in the negative territory declining 1.33 percent.
In October, WPI inflation decreased to 0.52 percent, whereas in September, it decreased to 0.26 percent. WPI inflation rate has remained in the negative zone since April. After seven months, WPI inflation entered into positive territory.
“The month-over-month change in WPI index for November 2023 stood at 0.53 percent as compared to October 2023,” said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The food index-based WPI increased to 4.6 percent in November from 1.07 percent in October. The food index, which consists of food articles from the Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from the Manufactured Products group, increased from 179.6 in October to 183.1 in November. The food index consists of items such as cereals, paddy, wheat, pulses, vegetables, potato, onion, fruits, milk, eggs, meat, and fish.
The primary articles index increased by 1.3 percent to 186.9 in November from October, while prices of non-food articles decreased by 0.24 percent, minerals decreased by 0.41 percent, and crude petroleum and natural gas declined by 4.79 percent in November.
The fuel and power index increased by around 0.78 percent to 155.3 in November. Whereas the prices of mineral oils declined by 1.99 percent and electricity increased by 9.93 percent.
Written by Nalin Suriya S.
