India’s wholesale inflation surged sharply to 9.68% year-on-year (YoY) in May from 8.3% in April, and advanced steeply from 3.88% recorded in March, driven by the rise in energy prices caused by the West Asia conflict.
The index for all commodities in May stood at 109.9 as compared to 108.8 reported in the month prior.
For the month of May, inflation for primary articles stood at 4.99% against 3.78% posted in April, while inflation in the fuel and power category surged to 30.33% from 24.89% posted in the preceding month, and in the manufactured products segment, it was 7.48%, rising from 6.68% reported in April 2026.
The WPI food index, which carries a weightage of 24.99%, observed an inflation rate of 4.49% in May, advancing significantly from 3.11% reported in April. The index comprises food articles and manufactured food products.
Revisions under WPI May data
Under the revised WPI series, the total number of items included in the basket has been increased to 957 from the earlier 697. The May data includes new sources of energy like solar and wind under the electricity group. Also, nuclear electricity has been added to the basket.
Also, the crude petroleum and natural gas segment has been shifted from ‘Primary Articles’ to the ‘Fuel and Power’ major group. “This reorganization has been done to ensure better alignment, as this group already houses other major fuels such as coal, electricity, and petroleum products,” the government said in its press release.
Last month, oil manufacturing companies had raised retail fuel prices four times, driven by the supply-driven shock caused by the three-month-stretched West Asia conflict. With the US-Iran ceasefire agreement, markets expect some relief in oil prices as transits through the chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, are expected to resume.
WPI Data – Expert commentary
“The fuel and power segment, which now accounts for 14.1% of the WPI by weight and also includes the crude petroleum and natural gas groups, witnessed a sharp rise in the inflation rate to 30.3% in the month from 24.9% in April 2026, reflecting the continued passthrough of elevated global energy prices,” said Rahul Agrawal, Principal Economist at ICRA.
He added that the manufactured products segment also witnessed a continued hardening in inflation, driven by an uptick across as many as 17 of the 22 sub-segments between these months.
“The recent cooling in global energy and commodity prices after the easing of tensions in West Asia is expected to provide respite to the WPI inflation print for June 2026,” Agrawal noted.