Informist Poll
WPI inflation seen at 11-month high of 2.0% in February
This story was originally published at 16:10 IST on 13 March 2026
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Friday, Mar. 13, 2026
By Shubham Rana
NEW DELHI - WPI inflation in India is expected to have risen to an 11-month high of 2.0% in February because of a broad-based rise in wholesale prices, according to an Informist Poll of 10 economists. WPI inflation was 1.81% in January and 2.45% in February 2025.
Economists' estimates ranged from 1.6% to 2.4%. The commerce ministry will release WPI data for February at 1200 IST Monday.
"The spike in headline WPI was largely driven by both food inflation and core inflation," Union Bank of India said in a report. Economists at the bank project wholesale food inflation to have risen to 1.8% in February from 1.4% a month ago.
Wholesale food inflation is seen rising on the back on an unfavourable base effect, while food prices are seen falling month-on-month in February. According to data from the Department of Consumer Affairs, wholesale prices of tomatoes fell 32% on month in February. Wholesale prices of potatoes and onions were also down nearly 7% and over 5%, respectively, from January.
"Food inflation is likely to firm up further in coming months as summer months set in and high base effect continues to fade," Union Bank of India said.
Core WPI inflation, which excludes food and fuel items, likely rose to around 3.5% in February from 3.2% in January. Core WPI inflation is seen rising in February on "rising metal prices and a subdued base," Nirmal Bang Equities Pvt. Ltd. said.
WPI remains below its retail counterpart. CPI inflation rose to 3.21% in February from 2.74% in January, data released Thursday showed.
The following is a summary of the poll by Informist on WPI inflation in February, in ascending order:
| ORGANISATION | WPI INFLATION ESTIMATE |
| CareEdge Ratings | 1.6% |
| Sunidhi Securities | 1.97% |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | 2.0% |
| Capital Economics | 2.0% |
| Union Bank of India | 2.0% |
| STCI Primary Dealer | 2.08% |
| India Ratings and Research | 2.1% |
| ICICI Bank | 2.31% |
| QuantEco Research | 2.32% |
| Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities | 2.4% |
End
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Edited by Vandana Hingorani
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