India’s wholesale inflation eases to 2.26% in February

India’s Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation eased sharply to 2.26% for the month of February, 2020 as compared to 3.1% for the previous month and 2.93% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 1.92% compared to a build up rate of 2.75% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62%, declined by 2.8% to 143.1 (provisional) from 147.2 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for 'Food Articles' group declined by 3.7% to 154.9 (provisional) from 160.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ' Non-Food Articles' group declined by 0.4% to 131.6 (provisional) from 132.1 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas' group declined by 1.5% to 87.0 (provisional) from 88.3 (provisional) for the previous month, while the index for 'Minerals' group rose by 3.5% to 147.6 (provisional) from 142.6 (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, rose by 1.2% to 103.9 (provisional) from 102.7 (provisional) for the previous month, on account of higher price of electricity.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, rose by 0.2% to 118.7 (provisional) from 118.5 (provisional) for the previous month. Among these, the index for 'Manufacture of Beverages' group rose by 0.1% to 124.1 (provisional) from 124.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Tobacco Products' group rose by 2.1% to 154.2 (provisional) from 151.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Textiles' group rose by 0.3% to 116.7 (provisional) from 116.4 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products' group rose by 0.8% to 120.0 (provisional) from 119.1 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical and Botanical Products' group rose by 2.0% to 130.3 (provisional) from 127.8 (provisional) for the previous month.

Further, the index for 'Manufacture of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products' group rose by 0.7% to 116.3 (provisional) from 115.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Basic Metals' group rose by 1.1% to 107 (provisional) from 105.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment' group rose by 0.4% to 113.4 (provisional) from 113.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Other Transport Equipment' group rose by 1.5% to 120.5 (provisional) from 118.7 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Other Manufacturing' group rose by 3.4% to 117.0 (provisional) from 113.1 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the flip side, the index for 'Manufacture of Food Products' group declined by 0.9% to 136.9 (provisional) from 138.2 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture Of Wearing Apparel' group declined by 0.1 % to 137.8 (provisional) from 138 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Leather and Related Products' group declined by 0.4% to 117.8 (provisional) from 118.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Wood and of Products of Wood and Cork ' group declined by 0.3% to 132.7 (provisional) from 133.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products' group declined by 0.3% to 116.0 (provisional) from 116.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products' group declined by 0.2% to 107.7 (provisional) from 107.9 (provisional) for the previous month

Besides, the index for 'Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery and Equipment' group declined by 0.7% to 114.6 (provisional) from 115.4 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Computer, Electronic and Optical Products' group declined by 0.2% to 109.5 (provisional) from 109.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Electrical Equipment' group declined by 0.1% to 110.7 (provisional) from 110.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers' group declined by 0.3% to 114.8 (provisional) from 115.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for 'Manufacture of Furniture' group declined by 1.2% to 128.2 (provisional) from 129.7 (provisional) for the previous month.