India’s WPI inflation drops further to 4.73% in January 2023

The WPI inflation was 8.39 per cent in October 2022, 5.85 per cent in November, and 4.95 per cent in December 2022.

India’s annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index (WPI), declined further to 4.73 per cent (provisional) in January 2023, over January 2022, according to the ministry of commerce and industry. India’s WPI inflation had reached a record high of 15.88 per cent in May 2022, compared to single digit figure of 7.39 per cent in March 2021.

“Decline in the rate of inflation in January 2023 is primarily contributed by mineral oils, chemicals & chemical products, textiles, crude petroleum & natural gas, textiles, and food products,” the Office of the Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the ministry of commerce and industry, said.

The official WPI for all commodities (Base: 2011-12 = 100) for the month of January 2023 was 150.6 compared to previous month’s 150.4.

The index for manufactured products (weight 64.23 per cent) for January 2023 increased to 141.3 from 141.1 for the month of December 2022. The index for ‘Manufacture of Textiles’ sub-group however decreased to 137.2 from previous month’s 138.4. The index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ too decreased to 149.5 from previous month’s 149.9.

The index for primary articles (weight 22.62 per cent) increased to 174.0 in January from previous month’s 172.4. On the other hand, the index for fuel and power (weight 13.15 per cent) declined to 155.8 from 158.0 in December 2022.

Meanwhile, the all-India inflation rate for consumer price index (CPI) on base 2012=100 stood at 6.52 (provisional) in January 2023 compared to 5.72 (final) in December 2022 and 6.01 January 2021, according to the National Statistics Office, under the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)