More Stories

Informist, Thursday, May 14, 2026

 

Please click here to read all liners published on this story

--India Apr WPI inflation 8.30% vs 3.88% Mar
--Informist Poll estimated India Apr WPI inflation at 5.5%
--India Apr WPI food inflation 2.31% vs 1.85% Mar
--India Apr WPI inflation of 8.30% highest in 42 months
--India Apr WPI fuel and power inflation 24.71% vs 1.05% Mar
--India Apr WPI primary articles inflation 9.17% vs 6.36% Mar
--India Apr WPI manufactured products inflation 4.62% vs 3.39% Mar
--India Apr WPI all commodities index up 3.9% on month
--India Apr WPI food index up 1.2% on month
--India Apr WPI primary articles index up 2.6% on month
--India Apr WPI fuel and power group index up 18.2% on month
--India Apr WPI manufactured products index up 1.4% on month
--India Apr WPI vegetable index up 4.0% on month
--India Apr WPI cereals index up 0.4% on month
--India Apr WPI edible oils index up 1.7% on month
--India Apr WPI basic metals index up 3.3% on month
--India Apr WPI crude petroleum index up 17.0% on month
--India Feb WPI inflation revised to 2.26% vs 2.13% provisional
--India Apr WPI core inflation 5.0% vs 3.7% Mar
--India Apr WPI core inflation of 5.0%, highest in 43 months

 

NEW DELHI – WPI inflation in India rose to a 42-month high in April on the back of a significant jump in fuel and power inflation stemming from energy crises owing to West Asia war, data released by the commmerce ministry Thursday showed. Headline inflation was well above economists consensus estimate of 5.5% in an Informist Poll.

 

At 8.30%, WPI inflation in April was much also higher than 3.88% in March. The February print was revised higher to 2.26% from the provisional figure of 2.13%. WPI inflation was 0.85% in April last year. 

 

Wholesale inflation was much higher than CPI inflation in April, with retail prices rising just 3.48% on year last month. While the government has so far shielded consumers from the direct impact of higher energy prices, industry and businesses have faced the impact of the war because of a rise in commercial cooking gas prices and industrial fuel, which was reflected in the April WPI print.

 

WPI fuel and power inflation hit a 42-month high at 24.71% in April, reflecting a severe impact of the West Asia energy crises. Economists estimated WPI fuel and power inflation to have risen to around 4-6% in April. WPI fuel and power inflation in March was 1.05%.

 

Wholesale high speed diesel inflation jumped to 25.2% in April, highest since January 2023. Wholesale petrol inflation skyrocketed to a 43-month high to 32.4% last month from 2.5% in March. This was the second time wholesale petrol inflation was in the positive territory since May 2024.

 

WPI crude petroleum inflation rose to 88.1% last month, highest since October 2021. Wholesale crude petroleum and natural gas prices shot up 16.4% on month in April amid the ongoing war in West Asia, which has pushed up global energy prices and choked supplies. Natural gas inflation hit a 31-month high of 24.9% in April.

 

"WPI inflation will continue to be elevated in the coming month unless there is significant correction in international prices of crude oil," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. "Last year, inflation was negative and hence on this base, higher numbers were anyway expected,"

 

 

WPI core inflation rose to a 43-month high of 5.0% in April from 3.7% in March. WPI food inflation rose to 2.31% last month from 1.85% in March. Sequentially, food index rose 1.2% in April.

 

The all commodities index of the WPI rose 3.9% on month, the highest sequential rise on record. This was mainly on account of a significant on-month rise in WPI fuel and power group index at 18.2%. Last month, WPI primary articles index grew 2.6% on month and WPI manufactured products index was up 1.4% from March.

 

"Looking ahead, food prices have hardened in early May relative to the April 2026 levels, in line with the normal seasonal trend, which is likely to push up the YoY WPI-food inflation print further in the ongoing month," Rahul Agrawal, senior economist at ICRA, said in a note.

 

ICRA expects the WPI inflation in May to be above 9% with continued passthrough of high energy and commodity prices, coupled with the rupee depreciation against the dollar. 

 

With the latest data release, economists are of the view that the Reserve Bank of Bank's Monetary Policy Committee is unlikely to change the repo rate at 5.25% in the upcoming meeting in June. "While WPI inflation is not a target for MPC, it is known that with a lag, these prices also get transmitted to the CPI component through higher input costs," Sabnavis said. "Therefore, these numbers remain important for policy formulation. They also indicate the pressure that is being exerted on the government to raise prices at the retail end."

 

The following table details the sequential and annual increase in the main components of the WPI:

 

	Weight (%)	April (index)	Month-on-month change	Year-on-year change
				April	March
ALL COMMODITIES	100	167.0	3.9%	8.30%	3.88%
PRIMARY ARTICLES	22.62	202.4	2.6%	9.17%	6.36%
Food articles	15.26	201.3	1.4%	1.98%	1.90%
Cereals	2.82	206.6	0.4%	(-)0.29%	(-)2.51%
Pulses	0.64	195.4	0.5%	(-)4.03%	(-)5.17%
Vegetables	1.87	189.3	4.0%	0.53%	1.45%
Potato	0.28	143.7	(-)0.1%	(-)30.04%	(-)27.94%
Onion	0.16	150.4	(-)4.7%	(-)26.45%	(-)42.11%
Tomato	0.28	197.0	6.2%	31.60%	30.08%
Fruits	1.6	234.2	5.0%	(-)0.21%	2.11%
Milk	4.44	192.1	0.0%	2.56%	2.62%
Eggs, meat, and fish	2.4	183.6	1.0%	6.68%	6.63%
Non-food articles	4.12	179.6	(-)0.9%	12.18%	11.50%
Oil seeds	1.12	223.7	1.6%	22.24%	22.81%
Minerals	0.83	255.7	0.9%	12.15%	3.22%
Crude petroleum	1.95	214.2	17.0%	88.06%	51.57%
FUEL and POWER	13.15	181.7	18.2%	24.71%	1.05%
Coal	2.14	138.0	0.0%	1.40%	1.77%
Liquefied petroleum gas	0.64	134.1	10.1%	10.92%	(-)1.54%
Petrol	1.6	193.7	24.5%	32.40%	2.50%
High speed diesel	3.1	200.3	17.3%	25.19%	3.26%
Electricity	3.06	138.6	(-)2.5%	(-)0.9%	(-)6.01%
MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS	64.23	151.6	1.4%	4.62%	3.39%
Food products	9.12	184.7	0.7%	2.90%	1.83%
Edible oils	2.64	197.9	1.7%	4.43%	1.67%
Textiles	4.88	146.9	2.6%	7.30%	4.91%
Chemical, chemical  products	6.47	144.6	3.4%	5.09%	2.19%
Non-metallic mineral  products	3.2	135.1	0.7%	2.27%	1.28%
Cement and lime	1.64	133.6	0.9%	2.38%	1.07%
Basic metals	9.65	149.9	3.3%	7.00%	4.01%
Semi-finished steel	1.27	120.4	1.4%	1.26%	0.34%

 

Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry

End

 

Reported by Shweta

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.