Wholesale food inflation cooled to 8.9% in November from 25-month high in October

Representational image of an aerial view of a footpath market in Bengaluru. Food price inflation decelerated to 8.9% in November 2024 from a 25-month high of 11.6% in October
| Photo Credit: Sudharaka Jain

India’s wholesale prices rose at a three-month low pace of 1.89% in November, easing from October’s 2.4% uptick, with food price inflation decelerating to 8.9% from a 25-month high of 11.6% in the previous month, even as manufactured products’ inflation accelerated to 2%.

Inflation in primary articles eased to 5.5% from 8.1% in October, while fuel and power remained in deflation zone, with prices falling 5.83% year-on-year.

Vegetable inflation that had soared over 63% in October, more than halved to 28.6%, but potato prices rose an alarming 82.8%, up from a little over 78% recorded in the previous two months. Onion inflation, which had halved from 78.8% in September to 39.25% in October, fell dramatically to a mere 2.85% in November.

EDITORIAL | Price worries: On inflation

The Commerce and Industry Ministry attributed November’s wholesale price inflation pace to the increase in prices of food articles, food products, other manufacturing, textiles, machinery & equipment.
Food products’ inflation hardened to 9.5% in November from 7.8% in the previous month, while edible oils and fats’ prices surged 28% from 20.2% in October. The price rise in fruits and pulses decelerated to 8.4% and 6%, respectively, but some other food items continued to see persistently higher inflation, including wheat (8.4%) and paddy (7.6%). 

On a sequential basis, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was down just 0.06%, led by a 1.2% fall in primary articles and a 0.45% decline in the Food Index. By contrast, fuel and power prices were up 1.2%, while manufactured products were 0.4% pricier than October. 

Among manufactured products, the groups that showed month-over-month increase in prices are food products, furniture, non-metallic mineral products, pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products and electrical equipment, the Ministry said.

Acuité Ratings and Research chief economist Suman Chowdhury said though manufactured products inflation is still mild, it shows a build up of input cost pressures that could hit industry’s profit margins.