The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation has further gone down for the month of April, 2023 over the same period last year. India’s WPI inflation for the said month has fallen to to -0.92%, which is the lowest in 34 months.
The annual rate of inflation based on all India WPI number is -0.92% against 1.34% recorded in March, 2023. This decline in the rate of inflation is primarily contributed by a fall in prices of basic metals, food products, mineral oils, textiles, non-food articles, chemical and chemical products, rubber and plastic products and paper and paper products.
Primary Articles weight 22.62% in the index. The index for this major group increased by 1.31% to 177.3 in April, 2023 from 175.0 for the month of March, 2023. The prices of crude petroleum and natural gas increased by 3.47%, minerals by 2.30% and food articles by 1.45%, in April, 2023 as compared to March, 2023. Prices of non-food articles declined in April 2023 as compared to March, 2023.
In WPI fuel and power weight 13.15%. The index for this major group declined by 2.68% to 152.6 in April, 2023 from 156.8 for the month of March, 2023. The prices of coal declined by -0.22%, electricity by -2.20% and mineral oils by -3.33% in April, 2023 as compared to March, 2023.
Similarly, manufactured products weight 64.23% in the index. The index for this major group remains unchanged at 141.2 in April, 2023. Out of the 22 NIC two-digit groups for manufactured products, 14 groups that have witnessed an increase in prices while 8 groups witnessed a decrease in prices.
The increase in price is mainly contributed by machinery and equipment, textiles, other transport equipments, computer, electronic and optical products, motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products etc. Some of the groups that have witnessed a decrease in prices are chemicals and chemical products, basic metals, food products, fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment, leather and related products, paper and paper products etc. in April, 2023 as compared to March, 2023.
WPI Food Index weight 24.38%. The Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from primary articles group and ‘Food Product’ from manufactured products group have increased from 172.1 in March, 2023 to 173.6 in April, 2023. The year-over-year inflation based on WPI Food Index decreased from 2.32% in March, 2023 to 0.17% in April, 2023.
The WPI for April, 2023, has been compiled at a weighted response rate of 85.5%, while the final figure for February, 2023 is based on the weighted response rate of 95.7%. The provisional figures of WPI will undergo revision as per the final revision policy of WPI.
The DPIIT releases index numbers of wholesale price in India on monthly basis on 14th of every month or the next working day with a time lag of two weeks of the reference month, and the index numbers is compiled with data received from institutional sources and selected manufacturing units across the country.
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