Potato and Onion prices were up 78.1% and 78.8%, respectively, in September, accelerating from the previous month, while fruits and pulses inflation eased marginally from the previous month at 12.2% and 13%, respectively. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Inflation in India’s wholesale prices increased to 1.84% in September from 1.31% in August, with food prices surging 9.5% from a 10-month low of 3.3% in August as vegetables became nearly 49% costlier than last year, Government data released on Monday (October 14, 2024) showed.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) slightly increased due to a 4% drop in fuel and power prices from last September and a slight decrease in manufactured product inflation, easing a tad to 1%.

On a month-on-month basis, the WPI increased by 0.06%, with the food index showing the highest gain of 1.1%. Meanwhile, manufactured goods and primary articles’ prices increased by 0.14% and 0.41%, respectively.

Potato and Onion prices were up 78.1% and 78.8%, respectively, in September, accelerating from the previous month, while fruits and pulses inflation eased marginally from the previous month at 12.2% and 13%, respectively.

“The positive rate of inflation in September, 2024 is primarily due to the increase in prices of food articles, food products, other manufacturing, the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers, the manufacture of machinery & equipment and so on,” the Commerce and Industry Ministry said.

Cereals and paddy inflation eased fractionally to 8.1%, but wheat prices rose at a faster pace of 7.6% during September. Milk inflation cooled a bit to 3.2%, while eggs, meat and fish prices fell 0.8%, marking the second successive month of year-on-year decline in prices. Fuel and power prices fell 0.8% from August 2024 levels.

Manufactured food products’ recorded an inflation of 5.5% in September, while vegetable and animal oils and fats were up 10.5%, albeit on a benign basis last year when prices had fallen for both.

The retail price of unpeeled garlic has gone up to ₹500 per kg. Bigbasket price is also ₹500 after giving discount from list price ₹720.

Pulses put on display for sale at wholesale grocery market in New Delhi. File photo
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Inflation in India’s wholesale prices slid to a four-month low of 1.31% in August from 2.04% in July, aided by a slight moderation in the pace of price rise in food items and manufactured goods, and fuel and power costs slipping into a mild deflation of 0.7% from a 1.7% uptick in the preceding month, government data released on Tuesday (September 17, 2024) showed.

Food inflation eased from 3.6% in July to 3.3% in August, but this was again spurred by a year-on-year decline in prices for vegetables and eggs, meat and fish, which dropped 10% and 0.7%, respectively.

Base effects played a key role in this moderation as vegetable prices were up 48.4% last August. Inflation in primary food articles stood at 3.1% from a steep 11.4% a year ago, but several items witnessed a sharp spurt in prices despite last year’s high base.

Cereals inflation remained firm at 8.44%, with paddy prices up 9.1% and wheat inflation accelerating to 7.3% from July’s 7% rate. Pulses inflation was a sharp 18.6, while potato inflation picked up further to 78% in August.

The price rise in onions stayed sharp at 65.75%, although below the 88.8% rise recorded in July. Inflation in fruits picked up to 16.7%, from 15.6% in July, while milk inflation offered some respite at 3.5%, compared with 8.5% a year ago.

The Food Index was down 1.13% from July levels, compared with the six-month high of a 2.7% sequential recorded in July.

Economists expect some of the gains in primary food articles inflation in August to reverse in line with base effects from last September, when they rose 3.8%, kicking in. “This would exert upward pressure to the headline wholesale inflation print for September 2024, which could rise to around 2% in from August’s 1.3% mark,” said Rahul Agrawal, senior economist at ICRA.

Manufactured products’ prices reversed a three-month rising streak with an inflation of 1.22% in August, from 1.6% in July. They were 0.07% lower on a month-on-month basis. 

Fuel and power prices rose 0.14% month-on-month, but were 0.7% below last August levels, which again marked a reversal of gradual upticks over the previous three months.