India’s wholesale inflation surges to 11.39% in September, beats estimates

India’s wholesale price inflation accelerated to 11.39 per cent in September from 9.92 per cent in August, driven by rising prices of fuel and power, food articles and manufactured products, according to provisional government data released on Wednesday.

The latest reading marks a sharp increase in wholesale price pressures, with all three major components of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) — primary articles, fuel and power, and manufactured products — recording higher year-on-year inflation.

The WPI, which uses 2022-23 as its base year, rose to 112.5 in September from 110.8 in August. Wholesale inflation stood at 9.78 per cent in July, according to the final estimates released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Inflation in the fuel and power category accelerated to 25.85 per cent in September from 22.93 per cent in August, reflecting sustained price pressures across energy commodities.

Crude petroleum and natural gas inflation surged to 57.32 per cent from 34.41 per cent in August. Inflation in mineral oils, which include petroleum products, increased to 40.02 per cent from 38.48 per cent.

Coal and lignite inflation also rose sharply to 9.31 per cent from 1.57 per cent in the previous month.

More from Business

Electricity prices continued to decline on a year-on-year basis, although the pace of deflation moderated. Inflation in electricity stood at minus 0.43 per cent in September, compared with minus 1.73 per cent in August.

Food prices also contributed to the acceleration in wholesale inflation. The WPI Food Index recorded inflation of 8.66 per cent in September, compared with 7.05 per cent in August.

Inflation in food articles rose to 8.14 per cent from 5.67 per cent in the previous month, adding to overall wholesale price pressures.

However, inflation in manufactured food products eased marginally to 9.44 per cent from 9.65 per cent in August.

Overall inflation in primary articles increased to 8.67 per cent from 7.76 per cent. Within the category, inflation in non-food articles moderated to 10.28 per cent from 14.79 per cent, while mineral inflation rose to 9.51 per cent from 8.24 per cent.

Manufactured products inflation accelerates to 9.76 per cent

Inflation in manufactured products, which account for the largest share of the WPI, climbed to 9.76 per cent in September from 8.37 per cent in August.

The increase was broad-based, with basic metals, chemicals, textiles, rubber and plastic products, and electrical equipment recording higher inflation.

Basic metals inflation surged to 16.96 per cent from 10.88 per cent in August, while inflation in chemicals and chemical products accelerated to 16.74 per cent from 14.30 per cent.

Textile inflation rose to 13.85 per cent from 12.63 per cent, while rubber and plastic products recorded inflation of 13.47 per cent, compared with 11.18 per cent in the previous month.

Inflation in electrical equipment increased to 11.93 per cent from 11.11 per cent.

Meanwhile, inflation in computer, electronic and optical products turned positive at 4 per cent in September, compared with a contraction of 0.47 per cent in August.

Cumulative wholesale inflation at 9.85 per cent in April-September

Cumulative wholesale inflation during April-September 2026 stood at 9.85 per cent, compared with a contraction of 0.20 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Fuel and power recorded cumulative inflation of 25.31 per cent during the first half of the 2026-27 financial year, while manufactured products inflation stood at 8.08 per cent.

Cumulative inflation in the WPI Food Index was 6.10 per cent, compared with a contraction of 1.26 per cent during April-September 2025.

The government also released provisional estimates of the Output Producer Price Index (PPI) and trial Input PPI for September.

The all-India Output PPI for all commodities rose to 112.5 in September from 110.8 in August. The index for agriculture, forestry and fishing increased to 118.7 from 116.5, while mining and quarrying rose to 129.2 from 122.0. The index for manufactured products climbed to 111.0 from 109.7.