WPI inflation softens to 2.6% in September on easing food and non-food article prices

Supported by easing food and non-food article prices and coming in line with the decline in retail inflation, India's inflation on wholesale level softened in the month of September. According to the latest data released by the government, the wholesale price inflation (WPI) stood at 2.60% in September as against 3.24% in the previous month and 1.36% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 0.97% compared to a build up rate of 3.44% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, witnessed fall of 3% to 130.8 (provisional) from 134.9 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group decreased by 4% to 144.8 (provisional) from 150.8 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group too down by  0.2% to 120.3 (provisional) from 120.6 (provisional) for the previous month. On the other hand, the index for ‘Minerals’ group gained 1.1% to 119.5 (provisional) from 118.2 (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index having weight of 13.15% moved up by 1.7% to 90.7 (provisional) from 89.2 (provisional) for the previous month, due to higher price of LPG.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23% increased by 0.4% to 113.4 (provisional) from 112.9 (provisional) for the previous month. The index for 'Manufacture of Food Products' group increased by 0.7% to 128.2 (provisional) from 127.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Beverages' group rose by 0.8% to 120.1 (provisional) from 119.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Tobacco Products' group increased by 2.2% to 150.9 (provisional) from 147.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Textiles' group rose by 0.6% to 113.4 (provisional) from 112.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Wearing Apparel' group surged by 0.1 percent to 136.6 (provisional) from 136.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Wood and of Products of Wood and Cork ' group gained 0.2% to 132.4 (provisional) from 132.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products' group increased by 0.7% to 119.3 (provisional) from 118.5 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media' group rose by 0.2% to 144.6 (provisional) from 144.3 (provisional) for the previous month.

The index for 'Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products' group rose by 0.1% to 111.3 (provisional) from 111.2 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical and Botanical Products' group rose by 0.5% to 121.5 (provisional) from 120.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Basic Metals' group increased by 2.7% to 100.4 (provisional) from 97.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery and Equipment' group rose by 0.9% to 108.5 (provisional) from 107.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Computer, Electronic and Optical Products' group rose by 0.3 percent to 109.2 (provisional) from 108.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Electrical Equipment' group rose by 0.8% to 110.2 (provisional) from 109.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of other Transport Equipment' group rose by 0.1% to 109.6 (provisional) from 109.5 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Manufacture of Furniture' group was up by 0.5% to 120.1 (provisional) from 119.5 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the other hand, the index for 'Manufacture of Leather and Related Products' group slipped by 1.4% to 119.2 (provisional) from 120.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products' group decreased by 0.4% to 106.8 (provisional) from 107.2 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment' group declined by 0.2% to 108.2 (provisional) from 108.4 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers' group declined by 1.3% to 110.5 (provisional) from 111.9 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Other Manufacturing' group dropped 7.4% to 105.3 (provisional) from 113.7 (provisional) for the previous month.