India’s Wholesale Price Index-based inflation rose to a 13-month high of 1.26% in April, according to government data released on Tuesday. This was up from a 0.53% increase in March.

In March 2023, wholesale inflation stood at 1.41%. It then fell for seven consecutive months from April 2023 to October 2023, before rising in November to 0.26% and touching a seven-month high in December at 0.73%. The figure has continued to increase every month in 2024, on a year-on-year basis.

Last month’s price rise was “primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, electricity, crude petroleum and natural gas, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing etc”, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

Advertisement

The rate of inflation for food commodities increased from 4.65% in March to 5.52% in April. The price rise of primary food articles rose from 6.88% in March to 7.74% in April.

The prices of manufactured products, however, fell from 0.8% in March to 0.4% in April. The prices of fuel and electricity increased by 1.38%, as compared to a drop of 0.77% in March.

Meanwhile, India’s Consumer Price Index-based inflation, or retail inflation, fell slightly to settle at an 11-month low of 4.83% in April, according to government data released on Monday. This was down from 4.85% in March. However, retail inflation in the food and beverages sector increased to 7.9% in April, from 7.7% in March.

Advertisement

In April, the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee kept its repo rate unchanged at 6.50% for the seventh consecutive time. The repo rate is the interest rate at which the central bank lends money to commercial banks. The Monetary Policy Committee decides on changes to it every two months.

The repo rate has not been revised despite India’s retail inflation figures being compliant with the Reserve Bank of India’s target for two months now. The Centre has mandated the bank to keep Consumer Price Index-based inflation at 4%, with a margin of 2% above and below that mark.