Wholesale food inflation cooled to 8.9% in November from 25-month high of 11.6%

Representational image of an aerial view of a footpath market in Bengaluru. Food price inflation decelerated to 8.9% in November 2024 from a 25-month high of 11.6% in October
| Photo Credit: Sudharaka Jain

India’s wholesale prices rose at a three-month low pace of 1.89% in November, easing from October’s 2.4% uptick, with food price inflation decelerating to 8.9% from a 25-month high of 11.6% in the previous month, even as manufactured products’ inflation accelerated to 2%.

Inflation in primary articles eased to 5.5% from 8.1% in October, while fuel and power remained in deflation zone, with prices falling 5.83% year-on-year.

On a sequential basis, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was down just 0.06%, led by a 1.2% fall in primary articles and a 0.45% decline in the Food Index. By contrast, fuel and power prices were up 1.2%, breaking a two-month streak of sequential declines, while manufactured products were 0.4% pricier than October.

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Among manufactured products, some of the important groups that showed month-over-month increase in prices are food products, furniture, non-metallic mineral products, pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products and electrical equipment, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said.

Vegetable inflation that had soared over 63% in October, more than halved to 28.6%, but potato prices rose an alarming 82.8%, up from a little over 78% recorded in the previous two months. Onion inflation, which had halved from 78.8% in September to 39.25% in October, fell dramatically to a mere 2.85% in November.

The Ministry attributed November’s wholesale price inflation pace to the increase in prices of food articles, food products, other manufacturing, textiles, machinery and equipment.

Food products’ inflation hardened to 9.5% in November from 7.8% in the previous month, while edible oils and fats’ prices surged 28% from 20.2% in October. The price rise in fruits and pulses decelerated to 8.4% and 6%, respectively, but some other food items continued to see persistently higher inflation, including wheat (8.4%) and paddy (7.6%).