WPI inflation eases to 2.17% in May from 3.85% in April

Continuing its declining trend for yet another month, India’s Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation eased in May as prices of fuel and food articles declined. According to the data released by the ministry of commerce and industry, the WPI with the revised base year of 2011-12 fell to 2.17% in May from 3.85% in April and (-) 0.90% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was (-) 0.35% compared to a build up rate of 2.51% in the corresponding period of the previous year. Meanwhile, for the month of March, 2017, the final WPI was revised upward to 5.99% from 5.70% (provisional).

Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, witnessed a decline of 1.5% to 126.5 (provisional) from 128.4 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group fell down by 1.2% to 137.7 (provisional) from 139.4 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group also decreased by 1.2% to 119.8 (provisional) from 121.2 (provisional) for the previous month. The index for ‘Minerals’ group rose by 1.9% to 114.8 (provisional) from 112.7 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of garnet and the index for ‘Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas’ group declined by 7.1% to 71.1 (provisional) from 76.5 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of  crude petroleum.

Fuel & Power index having weight of  13.15% decreased by 2.1% to 90.8 (provisional) from 92.8 (provisional) for the previous month on account of lower prices of LPG, petrol & high speed diesel.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23% increased by 0.4% to 112.6 (provisional) from 112.1 (provisional) for the previous month. The index for ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ group fell down by 0.1%  to 127.2 (provisional) from 127.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ group dropped 0.4% to 133.5 (provisional) from 134.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Leather and Related Products’ group slumped 0.6% to 119.5 (provisional) from 120.2 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media’ group declined by 0.7% to 141.7 (provisional) from 142.7 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Wood and Products of Wood and Cork’ group declined by 0.5% to 130.6 (provisional) from 131.3 (provisional) for the previous month.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical and Botanical Products’ group declined by 0.2% to 120.8 (provisional) from 121.0 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the items in the group, the index for ‘Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products’ group was down by 0.1% to 108.6 (provisional) from 108.7 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Electrical Equipment’ group decreased by 0.2% to 108.3 (provisional) from 108.5 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment’ group was down by 0.1% to 108.3 (provisional) from 108.4 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Furniture’ group slipped 2.6% to 114.2 (provisional) from 117.3 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the other hand, the index for ‘Manufacture of Beverages’ group increased by 0.3% to 117.5 (provisional) from 117.2 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Textiles' group rose by 0.3% to 113.6 (provisional) from 113.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products’ group rose by 0.7% to 116.4 (provisional) from 115.6 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products’ rose by 0.3% to 111.7 (provisional) from 111.4 (provisional) for the previous month.

The index for ‘Manufacture of other Non-Metallic Mineral Products’ group surged by 1.9% to 111.4 (provisional) from 109.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Basic Metals’ group surged 2.0% to 96.8 (provisional) from 94.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery and Equipment’ group rose by 1.1% to 108.1 (provisional) from 106.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Computer, Electronic and Optical Products’ group rose by 0.6% to 109.1 (provisional) from 108.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers’ group was up by 0.6% to 111.3 (provisional) from 110.6 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Other Transport Equipment’ group rose by 0.8% to 109 (provisional) from 108.1 (provisional) for the previous month.