India’s wholesale inflation surged to a new high of 9.68% in May from 8.26% in April, driven by a sharp rise in fuel, crude petroleum, and manufactured chemical and metal product prices.
The provisional estimate of May WPI inflation numbers is the first being released under the new series, with 2022-23 as the base year, as against the 2011-12 base year used in the earlier series.
The total number of items has increased from 697 to 957, while new sources of energy, such as Solar and Wind, have been added to the ‘Electricity’ group under the new WPI series. In addition, Nuclear Electricity has been included in the basket. Also, Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas has been shifted from ‘Primary Articles’ to ‘Fuel and Power’ major group.
Across major groups, year-on-year (y-o-y) inflation for Primary Articles, Fuel and Power, and Manufactured Products stood at 4.99%, 30.33%, and 7.48%, respectively, in May 2026, compared with 3.78%, 24.89%, and 6.68%, respectively, in April 2026.
Across groups, ‘Mineral Oils (containing Petroleum Products)’, ‘Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas’, ‘Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products’, and ‘Manufacture of Basic Metals’, have been major drivers of WPI inflation in April and May 2026, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
Inflation for crude petroleum and natural gas stood at 61.51% in May, up from 56.31% in April and 26.13% in March. WPI inflation in mineral oils also stood at a high of 49.82% in May.
Among the manufactured products, inflation in the manufacture of tobacco products stood at 13.59%, manufacture of textiles – 10.22%, manufacture of chemical products – 13.40%, manufacture of basic metal – 12.30%, manufacture of electrical equipment – 11.32% and other manufacturing at 22.87% in May.
OPPI prints
The WPI Food Index, having a weight of 24.99%, consists of ‘Food Articles’ from the Primary Articles major group, and ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ from the Manufactured Products major group. It observed y-o-y inflation of 4.49% in May 2026, up from 3.11% in April 2026. Year-on-year comparisons cannot be made due to the switch to a new base year from May.
“As per the new WPI series (base year: 2022-23) released by the Commerce Ministry, the headline WPI inflation surged to a series high of 9.7% in May 2026 from 8.3% in April 2026, amidst a broad-based uptick across most groups, partly aided by a favourable base,” said Rahul Agrawal, principal economist, Icra Ltd.
“The newly released OPPI prints have closely tracked the WPI, with the inflation in the former printing at 9.4% in May 2026, up from 8.1% in April 2026.
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,” he added.
The commerce ministry also released provisional estimates of the output producer price index or OPPI (base year 2022-23) for May 2026. According to it, the all-India output PPI for All Commodities for May 2026 stands at 109.6, up from 108.6 in April. Across Major Groups, indices for Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Mining and Quarrying; Manufactured Products; and Electricity are 111.9, 122.3, 109.5, and 90.2, respectively, in May 2026, whereas they were 111.2, 122.5, 108.3, and 90.6, respectively, in April.
More new indices
“The new index has differential weights for the three broad categories, though the changes are not very significant: for primary, it is up from 22.6% to 22.8%, while for manufacturing, it is down to 63.1% and fuel and power up from 13.2% to 14.1%. The mineral oil category has been shifted from primary to the fuel and power category. The rate of inflation has been climbing even before the war and has now peaked at 9.7% in May. This trend has been witnessed in all three divisions, with the sharpest increase witnessed in fuel and power due to the higher price of oil. If prices do come down sharply as has been seen today, there can be moderation in WPI inflation for sure on this account,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
A poor monsoon season poses the key near-term risk, he said, warning that pulses and oilseeds are especially exposed to a rainfall shortfall. He also flagged uncertainty over whether manufacturers in energy-sensitive industries such as chemicals, ceramics, and textiles would pass on any input cost savings to buyers.
According to Provisional Estimates of Trial Input Producer Price Index (Base Year 2022-23) for May, the All India trial Input PPI for Manufacturing Sector for May is 104.9 as against 100.9 in March.
The Provisional Estimates of Service Producer Price Indices (Base Year 2022-23) for Q4 of FY 2025-26 were also released by the commerce ministry.
The Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Commerce & Industry, has commenced compiling the Service Producer Price Index (SPPI). In the first phase, the indices for seven services are compiled from administrative/institutional sources and will be released quarterly.
Accordingly, as per the provisional estimate of service PPI, the Securities Transaction Service Price Index stood at 91.7 in Q4 FY26 as against 89.2 in Q3 of FY26. The estimate for the Banking Service Price Index stood at 100.9 in Q4, down from 102.2 in Q3.