The Indian government released the wholesale price index (WPI) data for May on Monday, June 16. The May WPI came at a 14-month low of 0.39%. The government attributes the positive rate of inflation to an increase in prices of manufacture of food products, electricity, other manufacturing, chemicals and chemical products manufacture of other transport equipment and non-food articles etc.The Wholesale Price Index, or WPI, measures the change in prices of goods that wholesale businesses sell to and trade in bulk with other companies. Unlike the CPI, which tracks prices of goods and services purchased by consumers, WPI tracks factory gate prices before retail prices.
In the preceding month, India’s WPI-based inflation came in at 0.85%.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry releases WPI. Under the index, commodities are categorised into three groups — primary articles (which are further divided into food and non-food articles), fuel and power and manufactured products, and the base year for the index is 2011-12.The prices of minerals (-7.16%), non-food articles (-0.63%), and mineral oils (-2.06%) declined in May as compared to the previous month. On the other hand, the price of food articles (0.56%), coal (0.81%), and electricity (0.80%) increased in May 2025 as compared to April 2025.Out of the 22 National Industrial Classification (NIC) two-digit groups for manufactured products, 10 groups witnessed an increase in prices whereas nine groups witnessed a decrease in prices. Three of the groups showed no change.Other manufacturing, manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products, computer, electronic and optical products, pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products and textiles etc witnessed month-over-month increases in prices. Manufacture of food products, basic metals, rubber and plastics products, chemical and chemical products and electrical equipment etc reported a decline in prices.First Published: Jun 16, 2025 12:31 PM IST
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