Wholesale Price Inflation Rises To 2.37% In December; Food Prices Ease

In the manufactured products category, which holds a weightage of 64.2 per cent in the index, inflation rose to 2.14 per cent in December, up from 2 per cent in November

WPI inflation was at 0.86 per cent in December last year.

Source : ABPLIVE AI

India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rose to 2.37 per cent in December, up from 1.89 per cent in November, driven by higher prices of manufactured goods and a low base effect, according to government data released on Tuesday.

In comparison, WPI inflation was at 0.86 per cent in December last year.

However, food inflation eased slightly to 8.47 per cent in December from 8.63 per cent in November, due to slower price increases in cereals at (6.82 per cent), paddy (6.93 per cent), wheat (7.63 per cent), and pulses (5.02 per cent), as per data from the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Meanwhile, prices of vegetables (28.65 per cent), potatoes (93.2 per cent), fruits (11.16 per cent), milk (2.26 per cent), and meat (5.43 per cent) saw significant increases in December.

The fuel and power category, however, continued to experience deflation, with a decline of 3.79 per cent in December.

In the manufactured products category, which holds a weightage of 64.2 per cent in the index, inflation rose to 2.14 per cent in December, up from 2 per cent in November.

At the same time, the country's retail inflation, based on the consumer price index (CPI), dropped slightly to a four-month low of 5.22 per cent in December, down from 5.48 per cent in November, due to a decline in food inflation.

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which primarily considers retail inflation when setting monetary policy, kept the benchmark interest rate (repo rate) unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the 11th consecutive time, maintaining a 'neutral' stance.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade releases the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for India on a monthly basis, typically on the 14th of each month (or the next working day if the 14th falls on a holiday), with a two-week time lag from the reference month.