India’s Wholesale Inflation Rises For Second Straight Month In March

Inflation based on wholesale prices gained pace in March, led by increasing prices of vegetables and fuel. This is the second consecutive month of an increase in wholesale prices after three months of drastic fall.

Wholesale inflation rose to 3.18 percent in March compared with 2.93 percent in the previous month, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. Wholesale Price Inflation, which tracks changes in the price of goods in stages before the retail level, was estimated at 3.23 percent for December by a Bloomberg poll of economists.

Wholesale Inflation For Major Commodities:

• Inflation for primary articles rose by 0.4 percent compared with prices in the previous month.
• The food articles index gained 0.9 percent over last month, led by a 6 percent rise in the prices of fruits and vegetables.
• Fuel and power inflation was at 2.3 percent while the index of 'Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas' rose 3.3 percent.
• Manufactured products' index rose 0.2 percent on a month-on-month basis.

Prices of vegetables rose 10.89 percent compared with February while that of crude petroleum, LPG and petroleum gained 5.57 percent, 6.05 percent and 3.86 percent, respectively.