New Delhi: Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation turned positive after two months, rising to 0.52% in August, driven by higher prices of food items and manufactured goods, government data showed on Monday.
WPI inflation stood at (-)0.58% in July and (-)0.19% in June, compared to 1.25% in August 2024.
“The positive inflation rate in August 2025 is mainly due to increased prices of food products, manufactured goods, non-food articles, non-metallic minerals, and transport equipment,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.
Food articles recorded deflation of 3.06% in August, easing from 6.29% in July, with vegetable prices showing a sharp rise. Deflation in vegetables moderated to 14.18% in August from 28.96% in July.
Inflation in manufactured products climbed to 2.55% in August, up from 2.05% in July. On the other hand, fuel and power continued to see deflation at 3.17% in August, compared to 2.43% in July.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which tracks retail inflation for policy decisions, kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.5% last month. Retail inflation, which had been falling for nine months since November 2024, edged up to 2.07% in August, largely due to higher prices of vegetables, meat, fish, and eggs, according to official data released last week.
