India's Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in January eased to 2.31 percent from 2.37 percent in December 2024, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Friday. The ministry attributed increased prices in the production of food articles and food products as major drivers of this rise. The rise in the cost of manufacturing textiles could also have contributed to pushing inflation.
In January 2024, the WPI inflation stood at 0.27 percent.
The WPI Food Index decreased to 7.47 percent in January 2025, down from 8.89 percent in December 2024.
Meanwhile fuel prices fell by 2.78 percent, compared to the 3.79 percent drop reported in December.
Manufacturing rose to 2.51 percent from 2.14 percent, the month prior.
Retail inflation eases to five-month low in Jan
India's CPI-based retail inflation fell to a five-month low of 4.31 percent in January from 5.22 percent in December on the back of falling food prices and renewed expectations that the RBIs Monetary Policy Committee will contemplate a repo rate reduction for the second time in a row at its April meeting.
Year-on-year food inflation softened to 6.02 percent during January, down from 8.39 percent in December. The decline was largely driven by falling vegetable prices that had contributed to hardening food inflation earlier. Vegetable price inflation fell steeply to 11.35 percent in January, down from 26.6 percent in December.
Industrial production slows in December
Though inflation data showed positive trends, industrial production growth emerged to be slowing. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) barely climbed 3.21% in
December, a four-month low, as opposed to November's 4.96%. The sluggish growth was a major result of weakening growth in manufacturing.
