WPI inflation rises to 6.55% in February

India’s Wholesale price index inflation (WPI) continued its firming trend for the third straight month in February and surged to  over three year high, due to rise in prices of food and fuel and power. As per the data of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 6.55% (provisional) for the month of February, 2017, as compared to 5.25% (provisional) for the previous month and (-) 0.85% during the corresponding month of the previous year.  Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 5.82% compared to a build up rate of (-)1.14% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 20.12%, witnessed a rise of 0.9% to 258.1 (provisional) from 255.7 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group rose by 0.1 percent to 267.5 (provisional) from 267.2 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group rose by 1.5 percent to 234.8 (provisional) from 231.3 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Minerals’ group rose by 9.0 percent to 234.8 (provisional) from 215.5 (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index having weight of 14.91% increased by 1.3 per cent to 203.8 (provisional) from 201.2 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of high speed diesel. Manufactured Products index having weight of 64.97% remained unchanged at its previous month’s level of 158.8 (provisional). Among the items in the group, the index for ‘ Textiles ‘ group surged by 0.2 percent to 142.6 (provisional) from 142.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Rubber & Plastic Products’ group rose by 0.2 percent to 148.9 (provisional) from 148.6 (provisional) for the previous month,  the index for ‘Chemicals & Chemical Products’ group rose by 0.4 percent to 151.5 (provisional) from 150.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Non-Metallic Mineral Products ‘ group rose by 0.1 percent to 178.8 (provisional) from 178.6 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Transport, Equipment & Parts’ group rose by 0.5 percent to 140.5 (provisional) from 139.8 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the other hand, the index for ‘ Beverages, Tobacco & Tobacco Products ‘ group declined by 0.2 percent to 221.5 (provisional) from 221.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Wood & Wood Products’ group declined by  0.4 percent to 191.8 (provisional) from 192.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Leather & Leather Products’ group declined by 0.3 percent to 145.1 (provisional) from 145.5 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Basic Metals, Alloys & Metal Products’ group declined by  0.5 percent to 160.4 (provisional) from 161.2 (provisional) for the previous month.