WPI inflation spikes to 3.18% in March

Rising for the second consecutive month, India’s Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation has come in at 3.18 percent in the month of March as compared to 2.93 percent (provisional) for the previous month and 2.74 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year, on the back of hardening of primary articles and fuel prices. As per the data of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, WPI for All Commodities (Base: 2011-12=100) for the month of March, 2019 rose by 0.4 percent to 120.0 (provisional) from 119.5 (provisional) for the previous month. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 3.18% compared to a build up rate of 2.74% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62 percent, rose by 0.4 percent to 134.7 (provisional) from 134.2 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group rose by 0.9 percent to 145.1 (provisional) from 143.8 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas' group rose by 3.3 percent to 87.6 (provisional) from 84.8 (provisional) for the previous month. However, the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group declined by 2.6 percent to 123.5 (provisional) from 126.8 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Minerals’ group declined by 1.9 percent to 136.7 (provisional) from 139.3 (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15 percent, rose by 2.3 percent to 103.3 (provisional) from 101.0 (provisional) for the previous month, on account of rising prices of mineral oils.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23 percent, rose by 0.2 percent to 118.3 (provisional) from 118.1 (provisional) for the previous month. Among these, the index for ‘Manufacture of Beverages’ group rose by 0.2 percent to 121.9 (provisional) from 121.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Tobacco Products' group rose by 3.2 percent to 153.7 (provisional) from 148.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Wood and of Products of Wood and Cork’ group rose by 0.8 percent to 135.7 (provisional) from 134.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media’ group rose by 0.1 percent to 145.8 (provisional) from 145.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products’ group rose by 0.2 percent to 119.7 (provisional) from 119.5 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products’ group rose by 0.5 percent to 109.9 (provisional) from 109.4 (provisional) for the previous month.

Further, the index for ‘Manufacture of Basic Metals’ group rose by 0.5 percent to 111.0 (provisional) from 110.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery and Equipment’ group rose by 0.4 percent to 116.2 (provisional) from 115.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Electrical Equipment’ group rose by 0.1 percent to 112.1 (provisional) from 112.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment' group rose by 0.7 percent to 112.3 (provisional) from 111.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers’ group rose by 0.2 percent to 113.5 (provisional) from 113.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Other Transport Equipment' group rose by 0.3 percent to 113.2 (provisional) from 112.9 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Other Manufacturing' group rose by 2.2 percent to 108.7 (provisional) from 106.4 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the flip side, the index for ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ group declined by 0.2 percent to 128.5 (provisional) from 128.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Textiles’ group declined by 0.3 percent to 118.7 (provisional) from 119.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ group declined by 0.9 percent to 138.0 (provisional) from 139.2 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Leather and Related Products’ group declined by 0.3 percent to 120.2 (provisional) from 120.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products’ group declined by 0.2 percent to 124.3 (provisional) from 124.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical and Botanical Products’ group declined by 0.2 percent to 125.7 (provisional) from 125.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products’ group declined by 0.8 percent to 116.6 (provisional) from 117.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Computer, Electronic and Optical Products’ group declined by 0.4 percent to 111.3 (provisional) from 111.8 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Furniture’ group declined by 0.2 percent to 129.4 (provisional) from 129.7 (provisional) for the previous month.