New Delhi: India’s wholesale inflation increased to a four-month high of 14.55 per cent in March compared with 13.11 per cent in February, according to data released by the commerce ministry on Monday, April 18. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation had stood at 7.89 per cent in the same month a year ago. The WPI inflation has now been in double-digits for 12 consecutive months.
As per the press release by the commerce ministry, the WPI based inflation rose to a four-month high primarily due to the rise in crude oil and petrol prices. “The annual rate of inflation is 14.55 per cent (Provisional) for the month of March, 2022 (over March, 2021) as compared to 7.89 per cent in March, 2021.The high rate of inflation in March, 2022 is primarily due to rise in prices of crude petroleum and natural gas, mineral oils, basic metals, etc owing to disruption in global supply chain caused by Russia-Ukraine conflict,” it said.
The food index consisting of ‘food articles’ from the government’s Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group have increased from 166.4 in February, 2022 to 167.3 in March, 2022. The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index increased from 8.47 per cent in February, 2022 to 8.71 per cent in March, 2022, data showed.
The steep rise in WPI based inflation comes days after the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which showed that the more closely tracked index increased to 6.95 per cent in March. While the Reserve Bank of India’s policy target is primarily based on the CPI inflation, WPI inflation can be seen as a forerunner of more high consumer prices as manufacturers will now tend to pass the brunt on the end consumer.
