The official Wholesale Price Index for all commodities (Base: 2011-12=100) for the month of October 2018 rose by 0.7 percent to 121.7 (provisional) from 120.8 (provisional) for the previous month.
Inflation
The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 5.28 percent (provisional) for the month of October 2018 (over October 2017) as compared to 5.13 percent (provisional) for the previous month and 3.68 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build-up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 4.64 per cent compared to a build-up rate of 2.12 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The movement of the index for the various commodity groups is summarised below:
Primary articles (Weight 22.62 percent)
The index for this major group rose by 0.7 per cent to 136.3 (provisional) from 135.4 (provisional) for the previous month. The groups and items which showed variations during the month are as follows:
The index for the Food Articles group rose by 0.9 percent to 145.8 (provisional) from 144.5 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of peas/chawali (six percent), bajra (five percent), jowar and poultry chicken (four percent each), urad and maize (three percent each), barley, gram, fruits and vegetables, pork and egg (two percent each) and wheat, beef and buffalo meat and ragi (one percent each). However, the price of betel leaves (three percent), tea and fish-marine (two per cent each) and condiments and spices, moong, arhar and rajma (one percent each) declined.
The index for the manufacture of the Food Products group rose by 0.1 percent to 129.5 (provisional) from 129.4 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of other meats, preserved/processed (six percent), castor oil (four per cent), manufacture of cocoa, chocolate and sugar confectionery and processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs and products thereof (three percent each), salt, powder milk, maida and sugar (two percent each) and manufacture of starches and starch products, gram powder (besan), instant coffee, sooji (rawa), groundnut oil, wheat flour (atta), manufacture of macaroni, noodles, couscous and similar farinaceous products, manufacture of processed ready-to-eat food and vanaspati (one percent each).
However, the price of molasses (seven percent), rice products (five percent), coffee powder with chicory (three percent), chicken/duck, dressed-fresh/frozen, processed tea and spices (including mixed spices) (two percent each) and rice bran oil, cotton seed oil, condensed milk, copra oil, butter, ice cream, ghee, gur, palm oil and manufacture of bakery products (one percent each) declined.
The index for the Manufacture of Beverages group rose by 0.4 per cent to 120.9 (provisional) from 120.4 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of rectified spirit and country liquor (one percent each).
WPI Food Index (Weight 24.38 percent)
The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of Food Articles from the Primary Articles group and Food Products from the Manufactured Products group decreased from 0.14 per cent in September 2018 to -0.64 percent in October 2018.
Final index for the month of August 2018 (Base year: 2011-12=100)
For the month of August, 2018, the final Wholesale Price Index for all commodities (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 120.1 as compared to 120 (provisional) and the annual rate of inflation based on final index stood at 4.62 percent as compared to 4.53 percent (provisional), respectively, as reported in September 2018.
