WPI inflation declined marginally to 3.39% in Oct

The Dollar Business Bureau

Now for the second consecutive month, India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation registered a decline, by 3.39% in October 2016 as against the corresponding month of last year.

The annual inflation rate stood at 3.57% in September and -3.70% during the corresponding month of the previous year.  “Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 4.34% compared to a build up rate of 0.45% in the corresponding period of the previous year,” Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

The official Wholesale Price Index for all commodities rose by 0.1% for the month of October 2016 to 182.9 as against 182.8 in September 2016.

The index for food articles group fell 0.3% to 278.8  from 279.6  for the previous month, on account of lower price of urad (6%), masur and fruits & vegetables (4%), arhar, bajra, maize and mutton   (3%), jowar (2%) and moong, fish-inland and condiments & spices (1%). 

The price of gram (18%), ragi (9%), poultry chicken (5%) and fish-marine, coffee and milk (1%), however, registered a positive growth for the month.

The WPI index for non-food articles group declined by 3.1% to 223.2  from 230.3 for the previous month due to lower price of soyabean (10%), groundnut seed and flowers (8%), raw cotton (5%), guar seed and raw rubber (4% each), gingelly seed and castor seed (3%), sunflower, hides (raw), raw silk and rape & mustard seed (2% each) and raw wool, skins (raw), and coir fibre and mesta (1%). 

The price of fodder and linseed (2%) and cotton seed and safflower (1%), however, moved up.

The index for minerals group rose by 0.2% to 210.9 from 210.4 for the previous month. The index for fuel and power rose by 1% to 187.3 from 185.4 for the previous month due to higher price of aviation turbine fuel (4%), petrol, furnace oil and high speed diesel (2%) and kerosene and LPG (1%).

The index for manufacturing product also rose by 0.2% to 157.4 from 157.1 for the previous month.