<p>New Delhi: The annual wholesale price inflation rose to a four-month high of 0.52% in August driven by an uptick in prices of food and manufactured products, as per data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday.</p>.<p>The factory gate inflation measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was at a two-year low of -0.58% in July. It was in the deflationary zone in June as well.</p>.<p>“The change in wholesale prices trajectory after a couple of months of deflation was largely due to an upswing in food prices,” said Paras Jasrai, Associate Director, India Ratings and Research.</p>.<p>Food prices in August 2025 were 0.2% higher when compared with the same month last year. The pace of decline in vegetable prices at 14.2% year-on-year in August was the slowest in six months.</p>.<p>Price of edible oil surged by 22.9% in August on a year-on-year basis, the sharpest increase in three months.</p>.<p>Jewellery prices surged by 32.6% in August when compared with the same month last year. This pushed the core inflation to a five-month high of 1.6% during the month under review.</p>.<p>A low base effect till the end of 2025 is likely to keep core inflation around 1.8% levels, Jasrai said.</p>.<p>Food items accounted for as much as 73 basis points of the 110 basis points uptick in the headline WPI print between August and July. This was followed by core WPI (non-food manufactured items) which added 27 bps to the headline print, said Rahul Agrawal, Senior Economist, ICRA.</p>.Retail inflation rises to 2.07% in August on uptick in food prices.<p>Despite the month-on-month basis uptick the prices of major food items in August was lower when compared with the same month last year.</p>.<p>Price of onion in the wholesale market in August was less than half when compared with the same month last year while potato was 44.11% cheaper. Pulses were 14.85% cheaper and fruit price was 4.86% lower on a year-on-year basis.</p>.<p>However, milk became costlier by 2.58%, wheat by 4.75% and non-food articles by 5.56% during the month under review on a year-on-year basis.</p>.<p>While the expectations of a relatively more favourable CPI inflation trajectory following the GST rationalisation opens up space for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, the positive impact of the same on growth outcomes in H2 FY2026, along with the stronger-than-expected GDP growth in Q1 is likely to result in a status quo in the upcoming October 2025 review meeting, said Agrawal.</p>
<p>New Delhi: The annual wholesale price inflation rose to a four-month high of 0.52% in August driven by an uptick in prices of food and manufactured products, as per data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday.</p>.<p>The factory gate inflation measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was at a two-year low of -0.58% in July. It was in the deflationary zone in June as well.</p>.<p>“The change in wholesale prices trajectory after a couple of months of deflation was largely due to an upswing in food prices,” said Paras Jasrai, Associate Director, India Ratings and Research.</p>.<p>Food prices in August 2025 were 0.2% higher when compared with the same month last year. The pace of decline in vegetable prices at 14.2% year-on-year in August was the slowest in six months.</p>.<p>Price of edible oil surged by 22.9% in August on a year-on-year basis, the sharpest increase in three months.</p>.<p>Jewellery prices surged by 32.6% in August when compared with the same month last year. This pushed the core inflation to a five-month high of 1.6% during the month under review.</p>.<p>A low base effect till the end of 2025 is likely to keep core inflation around 1.8% levels, Jasrai said.</p>.<p>Food items accounted for as much as 73 basis points of the 110 basis points uptick in the headline WPI print between August and July. This was followed by core WPI (non-food manufactured items) which added 27 bps to the headline print, said Rahul Agrawal, Senior Economist, ICRA.</p>.Retail inflation rises to 2.07% in August on uptick in food prices.<p>Despite the month-on-month basis uptick the prices of major food items in August was lower when compared with the same month last year.</p>.<p>Price of onion in the wholesale market in August was less than half when compared with the same month last year while potato was 44.11% cheaper. Pulses were 14.85% cheaper and fruit price was 4.86% lower on a year-on-year basis.</p>.<p>However, milk became costlier by 2.58%, wheat by 4.75% and non-food articles by 5.56% during the month under review on a year-on-year basis.</p>.<p>While the expectations of a relatively more favourable CPI inflation trajectory following the GST rationalisation opens up space for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, the positive impact of the same on growth outcomes in H2 FY2026, along with the stronger-than-expected GDP growth in Q1 is likely to result in a status quo in the upcoming October 2025 review meeting, said Agrawal.</p>