Wholesale inflation eases to 2.04% in July as against 3.36% in June: Govt data

India's wholesale inflation, measured using the Wholesale Price Index, eased by 2.04 per cent on an annual basis in July as against a 16-month high of 3.36 per cent in June, showed government data on Wednesday. As per post on X (formerly Twitter), the manufactured product prices rose 1.58% year-on-year against a 1.43% increase in the previous month. Fuel and power prices rose 1.72% compared with a 1.03% gain in June.

"Positive rate of inflation in July, 2024 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, other manufacturing etc," a statement issued by the government said.

 

Month-over-Month Change in Major Groups of WPI:

1. Primary Articles (Weight 22.62%):- The annual rate of inflation for Primary Articles of WPI stood to 3.08 per cent in July as compared to 8.80 per cent in June. The index for this major group increased by 3.13% to 197.6 (provisional) in July, 2024 from 191.6 (provisional) for the month of June, 2024. Prices of food articles (3.90%), crude petroleum & natural gas (1.22%), minerals (1.01%) and non-food articles (0.90%) increased in July, 2024 as compared to June, 2024.

2. Fuel & Power (Weight 13.15%): - The index for this major group increased by 0.14% to 147.9 (provisional) in July, 2024 from 147.7(provisional) for the month of June, 2024. Prices of mineral oils (1.09%) increased in July, 2024 as compared to June, 2024.

3. Manufactured Products (Weight 64.23%):- Manufactured products' inflation surged to 1.58 per cent in July from 1.43 per cent in June. The fuel and power inflation increased to 1.72 per cent as against 1.03 per cent in June.
The index for this major group declined by 0.14% to 141.7 (provisional) in July, 2024 from 141.9(provisional) for the month of June, 2024. 

Out of the 22 NIC two-digit groups for manufactured products, 13 groups witnessed an increase in prices and 9 groups have witnessed a decrease in prices. Some of the important groups that showed month-over-month increase in prices are chemicals and chemical products; food products; fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment; textiles; other manufacturing etc. Some of the groups that witnessed a decrease in prices are basic metals; other non-metallic mineral products; computer, electronic and optical products; machinery and equipment; furniture etc. in July, 2024 as compared to June, 2024.

WPI Food Index (Weight 24.38%): The Food Index consisting of 'food articles' from primary articles group  and 'food product' from manufactured products group increased from 190.3 in June, 2024 to 195.4 in July, 2024. The rate of inflation (Y-o-Y) based on WPI Food Index decreased from 8.68% in June, 2024 to 3.55% in July, 2024.

Earlier this week it was reported that retail inflation in July slowed to 3.54 per cent due to a sharp decline in food inflation.