India’s wholesale inflation measured on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) fell to 13.93 percent in July from 15.18 percent in June, according to data published by the commerce ministry on August 16.
In May, wholesale inflation reached a three-decade high of 16.63 percent. In the last fiscal, during the same month, WPI inflation was 11.57 percent.
“Inflation in July 2022 is primarily contributed by a rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, electricity, chemicals & chemical products, food products, etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year,” the commerce ministry statement said.
Wholesale prices continue to log double-digit rates, even in July, and stay above the 10-percent mark for 1.4 years consecutively.
The drop in the headline inflation came mainly due to a dip in food prices, as food inflation fell to 9.41 percent, down 300 basis points from June.
The cost of vegetables is assumed to see a significant month-on-month fall in prices of 38.5 percent in July. Prices of potatoes jumped 53.50 percent, while onion prices saw a fall of 25.93 percent.
Fruits got 9.11 percent costlier, jumping from 20.33 percent in June to 29.44 percent last month, while milk prices came down to 5.45 percent from 6.35 percent a month ago.
Costs of Cereal increased to 9.76 percent in July from 7.99 percent a month ago, while wheat prices reached the 13.61 percent mark last month, from 10.34 percent in June.
On the whole, the food index – which accounts for 24.4 percent of the WPI basket – saw a 3 percent fall on a month-on-month basis. The manufactured products group, on the whole, saw a month-on-month fall of 1.13 percent. Thus, the all-commodity index of the WPI fell 1.25 percent from June.
The manufactured products segment relived by 1.13 percent, down to 8.16 percent in July from 9.19 percent in June. The fuel and power group rose to 43.75 percent last month from 40.38 percent in June. Petrol price dipped to 55.30 percent from 57.82 percent a month ago, while HSD (High-Speed Diesel) soared to 72.41 percent from 54.93 percent. LPG prices moderated to 32.00 percent from 53.20 percent in June.