Compared to the same month previous year, India's Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation decreased to 0.27 percent in January. The Office of Economic Advisor provided data on Wednesday that demonstrated. In the previous three months, this number has been the lowest. It was 0.73% as of December 2023.
In January, the wholesale food inflation rate decreased to 3.79%. It was 5.39% in December of the previous year.
"The Food Index, which is made up of "Food Products" from the Manufactured Products group and "Food Articles" from the Primary Articles group, dropped from 179.9 in December 2023 to 178.0 in January 2024. According to the WPI Food Index, the rate of inflation dropped from 5.39 percent in December 2023 to 3.79 percent in January 2024," the statement stated.
Manufactured goods saw the biggest decrease in inflation, at -1.13 percent, followed by fuel and power at -0.51 percent. Primary articles—which are composed of minerals and crude oil—kept seeing positive inflation rates of 3.84 percent.
"Positive rate of inflation in January 2024 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, machinery & equipment, other manufacturing, minerals, other transport equipment etc," the press release stated.
Earlier in the week, broad-based deceleration and a positive base effect helped the retail inflation rate for January to a three-month low of 5.1%. December figures were 5.69 percent, compared to 6.52% in January of the previous year.
WPI calculates the total amount that producer prices have changed over time. It only takes into account base prices; taxes, trade discounts and rebates, shipping, and other fees are not included.
