According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday, in February 2025, India’s wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation increased to 2.38% (provisional), mostly as a result of rising prices for food products, food article, other manufacturing, non-food item, and textile manufacturing. The WPI rate in January was 2.31 percent, which is lower than this.
Compared to January 2025, the February WPI showed a month-over-month change of 0.06 percent. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that the index for primary products fell 1.74 percent to 186.6 (provisional) in February, according to month-over-month data.
Inflation for food items also decreased dramatically to 3.38% in February from 5.88% in January, according to a Ministry of Commerce & Industry report. Inflation for main goods decreased from 4.69% to 2.81% over the previous month. February’s gasoline and electricity inflation rate was -0.71%, down from -2.78% in January. Additionally, the inflation rate for manufactured goods in February was 2.86%.
WPI inflation was 4.84% in February, compared to 2.95 percent in January, according to non-food articles. In February, minerals inflation dropped from 2.86 percent in January to 0.98 percent. The crude petroleum and natural gas industries reported wholesale inflation of -7.99 percent and -4.06 percent, respectively, in February.
In the food items category, vegetable inflation plummeted from 8.35% in January to -5.80% in February. The inflation rate for pulses in February was -1.04%, whilst the inflation rate for wheat over the same period was 9.58%. Inflation for eggs, meat, and fish decreased from 3.56% in January to 1.48 percent in February. Inflation rates for potatoes and onions were 27.54 percent and 48.05 percent, respectively.
Retail inflation in India, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 3.61% in February, a sharp decline from 4.31 percent in January, according to data issued earlier on March 12 by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation. Compared to January 2025, this represented a 65 basis point decrease.
