Wholesale Price Index inflation cooled to 4.73 per cent in January as against 4.95 per cent in December 2022. The decline in the rate of inflation is driven by mineral oils, chemicals & chemical products, textiles, crude petroleum & natural gas, textiles, and food products.
“The month over month change in WPI for the month of January, 2023 stood at 0.13 per cent as compared to December, 2022,” said the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in its statement.
The food index inflation increased from 0.65 per cent in December 2022 to 2.95 per cent in January. “The Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group have increased from 170.3 in December, 2022 to 171.2 in January, 2023,” the ministry said. The food index includes products such as cereals, paddy, wheat, pulses, vegetables, potato, onion, fruits, milk, eggs, meat and fish.
The primary articles index that includes food articles, non-food articles, minerals, and crude petroleum and natural gas increased 0.93 per cent in January as compared to December 2022.
Fuel and power index declined by 1.39 per cent to 155.8 in January, from 158.0 for the month of December.
Manufactured products that include food products, beverages, textiles, leather and related products, paper, pharmaceuticals, rubber and plastic etc increased by 0.14 per cent to 141.3 from 141.1 in December 2022.