Wholesale Inflation Rises to 2.38% in February, Up from 2.31% in January: Govt Data
New Delhi: Wholesale inflation in India experienced a marginal increase in February, reaching 2.38 percent, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry today (Monday). This marks a slight rise from the 2.31 percent recorded in January 2025.
The government’s data indicates that while the Food Index, which includes primary food articles and manufactured food products, saw a decrease from 7.47 percent in January to 5.94 percent in February, overall wholesale prices edged up. The positive inflation rate in February was primarily driven by higher prices in manufactured food products, general food items, other manufacturing sectors, non-food articles, and the textile industry.
In December 2024, the wholesale inflation rate stood at 2.57 percent. The government releases these wholesale price index (WPI) figures on a monthly basis, typically around the 14th of each month or the following working day. The data is compiled from institutional sources and selected manufacturing units across the country.
Wholesale inflation has now remained in positive territory for more than a year. Economists often suggest that a modest increase in wholesale inflation can be beneficial as it typically encourages manufacturers to increase production. Notably, wholesale inflation had dipped into negative territory in April of last year.
Similarly, during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020, the WPI was also reported as negative. Prior to that, India had faced a prolonged period of high wholesale inflation, with the rate remaining in double digits for 18 consecutive months until September 2022. The country had also been grappling with elevated food inflation in recent months, largely due to rising prices of vegetables, fruits, oils, and fats, a trend that now appears to be subsiding.
In related news, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had maintained a high repo rate of 6.5 percent for nearly five years as a measure to keep inflation under control. The repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends money to other banks. However, the RBI recently decided to reduce the repo rate by 25 basis points, aiming to stimulate economic growth and boost consumption.