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India’s wholesale price inflation in March falls to 5.7 per cent
India’s annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices softened in March at 5.70 per cent after having risen to over a three-year high of 6.55 per cent in February on rising food and fuel prices, official data showed on Monday. Industry said its upward push on retail inflation could dampen the possibility of an RBI rate cut.
New Delhi
According to data released here by the Commerce Ministry, the wholesale price index (WPI) in March 2016, however, had declined to (-)0.45 per cent. Food articles rose by 3.12 per cent during the month under review, as against 4.09 per cent in March 2016. However, expenses on primary articles, which constitute 20.12 per cent of the WPI’s total weight, rose by 4.63 per cent during March, as compared to 2.97 per cent in the same month a year ago.
The wholesale inflation rate for onion was higher year-onyear at (-)10.78 per cent, but that for potatoes was lower at (-)17.07 per cent. Overall, vegetable prices in March rose sharply at 5.70 per cent, as compared to a negative inflation of (-)2.03 per cent in the same month a year ago. Year-on-Year, while wheat became expensive by 4.65 per cent, protein-based food items such as eggs, meat and fish became dearer by 3.12 per cent.
Prices of manufactured products, which comprise nearly 65 per cent of the index, continued to rise by 2.99 per cent, as compared to 0.13 per cent in March a year ago. The sub-category of manufactured food products registered a rise of 6.96 per cent, as against 5.58 per cent a year ago. Fuel and power price inflation accelerated massively in March, shooting up 18.16 pc, as compared to a decline of (-) 8.30 per cent in the same month a year ago.
Segment-wise, the price of high-speed diesel rose by 26.24 per cent last month, while that for petrol climbed by 20.56 per cent and for LPG by 7.25 per cent. The ministry also revised the January 2016 WPI inflation rate to 5.53 per cent, from the earlier provisional reporting of 5.25 per cent.
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