India’s wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation eased to 2.05 per cent (provisional) for the month of March, 2025, primarily due to increase in prices of manufacture of food products, other manufacturing, food articles, electricity and manufacture of textiles etc., data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Tuesday. This is lower than the WPI rate in February which stood at 2.38 per cent.
The month over month change in WPI for the month of March, 2025 stood at (-) 0.19% as compared to February, 2025.
The month-over-month data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed that the index for primary articles decreased by 1.07 per cent to 184.6 (provisional) in March from 186.6 for the month of February. The price of crude petroleum & natural gas (-2.42 per cent), non-food articles (-2.40 per cent) and food articles (-0.72 per cent) decreased in March, 2025 as compared to February 2025. The price of minerals (0.31 per cent) increased in March 2025 as compared to February 2025. The index for Fuel & Power decreased by 0.91 per cent to 152.4 (provisional) in March 2025 from 153.8 (provisional) for the month of February 2025. The manufactured products index increased by 0.42 per cent to 144.4 (provisional) in March 2025 from 143.8 (provisional) for the month of February, 2025.
Furthermore, per the release by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, inflation for food articles dropped significantly to 1.57 per cent in March as compared to 3.38 per cent in February. The inflation rate for primary articles went down to 0.76 per cent from 2.81 per cent in the previous month. The fuel and power inflation was at 0.20 per cent in March as compared to -0.71 per cent in February. And manufactured products inflation stood at 3.07 per cent in March.
Under the food articles category, vegetable inflation tanked to -15.88 per cent in March from -5.80 per cent in February. Pulses inflation during the month of February came in at -2.98 per cent, while the inflation for wheat stood at 7.96 per cent during the month in review. Eggs, Meat & Fish inflation went down to 0.71 per cent in March from 1.48 per cent in February. Potato and onion reported inflation at -6.77 per cent and 26.65 per cent respectively.
The non-food articles reported WPI inflation at 1.75 in March as against 4.84 per cent in February. Minerals inflation went up to 2.84 per cent in March from 0.98 per cent in February. The Crude Petroleum & Natural gas posted wholesale inflation at -7.64 per cent in March and crude petroleum was at -11.50 per cent.
Reacting on this, Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist & Head – Research & Outreach, ICRA Ltd, said, “The dip was largely led by food items, with the WPI-food inflation cooling to a seven-month low of 4.7 per cent from 5.9 per cent in the previous month, amid a deeper deflation in vegetables and pulses. Among the non-food items, the deflation in crude petroleum and natural gas widened in March 2025 compared to the previous month, while the inflation in non-food primary articles also softened between these months, exerting downward pressure on the headline print. However, the core (non-food manufacturing) WPI inflation inched up to a 25-month high of 1.5 per cent from 1.3 per cent in February 2025. Given the sequential softening in prices of most essential commodities in early-April 2025 and a favourable base, ICRA expects the WPI-food inflation to ease further to ~3.0-3.5 per cent in the month (+6.1 per cent in April 2024) from 4.7 per cent in March 2025 (+4.8 per cent in March 2024).”
ICRA further said that the headline WPI inflation is expected to plunge further to ~1.4-1.6 per cent in April 2025 (+1.2 per cent in April 2024).