India’s Wholesale Inflation Slows To 2.05 Per Cent In March 2025 As Food And Fuel Prices Decrease

India’s wholesale inflation eased to 2.05 per cent in March 2025, down from 2.38 per cent in February, according to provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

"Positive rate of inflation in March, 2025 is primarily due to increase in prices of manufacture of food products, other manufacturing, food articles, electricity and manufacture of textiles etc," the press release stated.

The moderation in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is attributed to marginal declines across key sectors including food articles, fuel, and primary commodities, even as prices for manufactured products edged higher.

The annual rate of inflation, as measured by the all-India WPI, remained in positive territory, driven by increase in prices of manufacture of food products, other manufacturing, food articles, electricity and manufacture of textiles etc.

The overall index for all commodities stood at 154.5, with a month-over-month (MoM) decline of minus 0.19 per cent, mirroring a consistent cooling trend since October 2024.

Primary Articles saw a notable drop of 1.07 per cent MoM, mainly due to declining prices of crude petroleum & natural gas (-2.42 per cent), non-food articles (-2.40 per cent) and food articles (-0.72 per cent).

Fuel & Power dipped 0.91 per cent, owing to lower electricity and mineral oil prices, while coal prices held steady.

On the contrary, Manufactured Products, which form over 64 per cent of the WPI, rose 0.42 per cent, with increases in basic metals, food products, other transport equipment, other manufacturing and machinery and equipment.

The WPI Food Index slipped slightly from 189.0 in February to 188.8 in March, with the annual food inflation decelerating to 4.66 per cent.

Final WPI for January 2025 stood at 155.0 with inflation at 2.51 per cent, based on a robust 95.4 per cent response rate.

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