India’s wholesale price inflation accelerated to 11.39% in September, driven by sharp increases in energy, metals, food and manufactured goods, raising concern that higher producer costs could feed through to households.
India’s wholesale price inflation accelerated sharply in September, reinforcing signs that cost pressures are building across the economy as energy, metals and food all became more expensive. According to provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, the Wholesale Price Index rose 11.39% from a year earlier, up from 9.92% in August and 9.78% in July.
The government’s all-commodities index climbed to 112.5 in September from 110.8 in August, while cumulative wholesale inflation for the April-September period reached 9.85%, compared with a contraction of 0.20% in the same period a year earlier. The data, based on a weighted response rate of 83.4%, remains provisional and may be revised later.
Energy and metals were the biggest drivers of the monthly increase. Fuel and power inflation rose to 25.85% from 22.93% in August, with mineral oils increasing 40.02% and coal and lignite jumping to 9.31% from 1.57%. Crude petroleum and natural gas recorded an even steeper rise, with inflation surging to 57.32% from 34.41%, while basic metals accelerated to 16.96% from 10.88%. Manufactured products, which carry the largest weight in the index, posted inflation of 9.76%, a series high, according to the official figures.
Food prices also added to the pressure. The wholesale food index, which combines food articles and manufactured food products, rose to 8.66% from 7.05% in August. Primary articles inflation increased to 8.67% from 7.76%. The New Indian Express and Livemint reported that higher costs across food articles, crude petroleum and natural gas, chemicals, textiles, rubber and plastic products, and electrical equipment all fed into the broader rise.
The latest reading comes a week after the Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50%, citing rising inflation risks. Retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index, reached 5.54% in September, according to earlier official data. The gap between wholesale and consumer inflation suggests that some producer costs have yet to be passed on fully to households, though economists generally treat such a spread as a warning that retail prices could climb further if input costs remain elevated.
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