The annual wholesale price inflation across India, based on the WPI, was recorded at 0.85 percent (provisional) in April 2025 compared to April 2024. This rise is mainly attributed to higher prices in the manufacturing sector—especially food products, chemicals, transport equipment, and machinery.
Month-on-Month Changes:
Primary Articles: The index dipped by 0.11 percent, from 184.6 in March 2025 to 184.4 in April 2025. While crude petroleum & natural gas (-5.31 percent) and non-food articles (-1.78 percent) saw a price drop, minerals (+7.81 percent) and food articles (+0.36 percent) became costlier.
Fuel & Power: The index declined by 2.82 percent, from 152.4 to 148.1, largely due to falling prices in mineral oils (-3.95 percent) and electricity (-1.38 percent). Coal prices, however, saw a slight rise (+0.22 percent).
Manufactured Products: This segment showed a 0.35 percent increase, rising to 144.9 from 144.4. Out of 22 industry groups, prices increased in 16, declined in 5, and remained stable in 1. Notable increases were seen in basic metals, chemicals, fabricated metals, and machinery, while declines were recorded in textiles, pharmaceuticals, paper, apparel, and media printing.
WPI Food Index: The index increased from 188.8 in March to 189.3 in April, but year-on-year food inflation slowed down from 4.66 percent to 2.55 percent.
The overall final WPI index for February 2025 was finalized at 154.9, with an inflation rate of 2.45 percent.
Cover photo: www.unsplash.com
