Based on statistics given by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India’s inflation for the month of September 2023 was (-)0.26% (Provisional) for the wholesale pricing index (WPI). In August 2022, the WPI inflation rate was (-)0.52%, while in September 2022, it was 10.55 percent. Since April, the WPI-based inflation rate has been negative for six months running.
The most recent figure, at (-)0.26%, is far lower than the consensus projection; analysts had anticipated that it would have increased to 0.7 percent last month.
“September 2023’s deflation is mainly caused by a decline in the prices of food products, basic metals, textiles, mineral oils, and chemical and chemical products when compared to the same month in the previous year,” the ministry stated.
Fuels and power saw wholesale inflation of (-)3.35 percent in September compared to (-)6.03 percent in August, whereas the percentage of primary products that saw wholesale inflation in September was 3.70 percent and 6.34 percent, respectively. The rate of inflation for manufactured goods was (-)1.34% compared to (-)2.37%. Concurrently, September’s food index dropped from 5.62 percent in August to 1.54 percent.
India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation decreased earlier this month, from 6.83 percent in August to a three-month low of 5.02 percent in September.
Additionally, in September, the WPI’s all-commodity index decreased month over month (M-o-M) to (-)0.59 percent. From 189.6 in August 2023 to 182.4 in September 2023, the index for primary items fell by 3.80%. From 149.6 in August 2023 to 153.1 in September 2023, the fuel and electricity index grew by 2.34 percent. Additionally, from 139.8 in August 2023 to 140.3 in September 2023, the manufactured products index grew by 0.36 percent.
The major contributors to the month-over-month price rise include rubber and plastic items, machinery and equipment, fabricated metal products, other transport equipment, and basic metals. Food goods, automobiles, trailers and semi-trailers, electrical equipment, leather and associated products, chemicals and chemical products, etc. had price decreases in September 2023 compared to August 2023, the ministry stated.
