India’s wholesale inflation fell sharply to 0.85 pc in April from 2.45 pc in March

NEW DELHI: Wholesale Inflation (WPI) in India stood at 0.85 per cent for the month of April 2025, drastically slipping from 2.45 per cent in the previous month, according to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.

In April, the price of crude petroleum and natural gas declined by 5.31 per cent and non-food articles saw a 1.78 per cent decrease in April, 2025, as compared to the previous month. However, the price of minerals (7.81 per cent) and food articles (0.36 per cent) increased in April 2025 as compared to March.

The positive rate of inflation in April is primarily due to an increase in prices of the manufacture of food products, other manufacturing, chemicals and chemical products, manufacture of other transport equipment and the manufacture of machinery and equipment, etc.

On a monthly basis, the index for the primary articles decreased by 0.11 per cent to 184.4 in April, 2025, from 184.6 (provisional) for the month of March, 2025. Fuel and power, which is the second major group in the WPI, decreased by 2.82 per cent to 148.1 in April 2025 from 152.4 for the month of March. The index for manufactured products, increased by 0.35 per cent to 144.9 in April, 2025, from 144.4 for the month of March.

The Food Index, consisting of ‘food articles’ from the primary articles group and ‘food products’ from the manufactured products group, increased from 188.8 in March 2025 to 189.3 in April 2025. The annual rate of inflation based on the WPI Food Index decreased from 4.66 per cent in March, 2025, to 2.55 per cent in April, 2025.

Wholesale inflation continues to remain in the positive territory for over a year now. Economists often say a little rise in wholesale inflation is good, as it typically incentivises goods manufacturers to produce more.
In April last year, wholesale inflation went into negative territory. Similarly, in July 2020, in the initial days of Covid-19, the WPI was reported as negative.

Notably, wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation was in the double digits for 18 months in a row until September 2022. As per the inflation data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Tuesday, retail inflation in India in April fell to 3.16 per cent from 3.34 per cent in March. (ANI)