<p>New Delhi: Wholesale price inflation rose to a nine-month high of 1.81% in January, driven by an uptick in prices of food and manufactured items, government data showed on Monday.</p><p>Food inflation, which was flat at 0% in December, picked up to 1.41% in January. Inflation in manufactured products jumped to 2.86% in January, from 1.82% in the previous month.</p><p>However, negative inflation, or deflation, continued in the fuel and power sectors, at 4.01% in January, as against 2.31% in December.</p><p>The Wholesale Price Index-based (WPI) inflation was recorded at 2.51% in January 2025. In December 2025, it stood at 0.83%.</p><p>“Positive rate of inflation in January 2026, is primarily due to increase in prices of manufacture of basic metals, other manufacturing, non-food articles, food articles and textiles etc,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.</p>.Retail inflation rises to 2.75% in January on high tomato, gold prices.<p>Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 2.75% in January. Though the new CPI series has been released with 2024 as the base year, the WPI continues to be in the old base (2011-12).</p><p>Vegetables became costlier by 6.78% year-on-year in the wholesale market. Fruits inflation stood at 1.78%, while wholesale milk inflation was recorded at 2.51% during the month under review.</p><p>Inflation in non-food articles jumped to 7.58%. Oil seeds became costlier by 19.25%, while prices of minerals surged by 12.76%.</p><p>Inflation in primary articles climbed sharply to 2.2%, up from 0.2%, reflecting higher mineral prices and the food basket moving out of deflation.</p><p>Manufactured goods inflation also strengthened, rising to 2.9% in January from 1.8% in December, with key categories such as basic metals and textiles registering notable increase in inflation.</p><p>“Looking ahead, the monsoon outlook will be crucial, as the elevated probability of an El Nino weather event could pose risks to food inflation,” said Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist, CareEdge Ratings.</p><p>“Additionally, geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran warrant close monitoring due to their potential impact on global energy markets. We expect WPI inflation to average 0.5% in FY26, rising further to 3.5% in FY27,” Sinha added.</p><p>Interestingly, the gap between WPI and CPI inflation (2011-12 base) increased to 74 bps in January from 50 bps in the previous month. “This gap further increases to 94 bps if we consider CPI new series (2024 base),” SBI Research said in a note. </p>
<p>New Delhi: Wholesale price inflation rose to a nine-month high of 1.81% in January, driven by an uptick in prices of food and manufactured items, government data showed on Monday.</p><p>Food inflation, which was flat at 0% in December, picked up to 1.41% in January. Inflation in manufactured products jumped to 2.86% in January, from 1.82% in the previous month.</p><p>However, negative inflation, or deflation, continued in the fuel and power sectors, at 4.01% in January, as against 2.31% in December.</p><p>The Wholesale Price Index-based (WPI) inflation was recorded at 2.51% in January 2025. In December 2025, it stood at 0.83%.</p><p>“Positive rate of inflation in January 2026, is primarily due to increase in prices of manufacture of basic metals, other manufacturing, non-food articles, food articles and textiles etc,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.</p>.Retail inflation rises to 2.75% in January on high tomato, gold prices.<p>Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 2.75% in January. Though the new CPI series has been released with 2024 as the base year, the WPI continues to be in the old base (2011-12).</p><p>Vegetables became costlier by 6.78% year-on-year in the wholesale market. Fruits inflation stood at 1.78%, while wholesale milk inflation was recorded at 2.51% during the month under review.</p><p>Inflation in non-food articles jumped to 7.58%. Oil seeds became costlier by 19.25%, while prices of minerals surged by 12.76%.</p><p>Inflation in primary articles climbed sharply to 2.2%, up from 0.2%, reflecting higher mineral prices and the food basket moving out of deflation.</p><p>Manufactured goods inflation also strengthened, rising to 2.9% in January from 1.8% in December, with key categories such as basic metals and textiles registering notable increase in inflation.</p><p>“Looking ahead, the monsoon outlook will be crucial, as the elevated probability of an El Nino weather event could pose risks to food inflation,” said Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist, CareEdge Ratings.</p><p>“Additionally, geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran warrant close monitoring due to their potential impact on global energy markets. We expect WPI inflation to average 0.5% in FY26, rising further to 3.5% in FY27,” Sinha added.</p><p>Interestingly, the gap between WPI and CPI inflation (2011-12 base) increased to 74 bps in January from 50 bps in the previous month. “This gap further increases to 94 bps if we consider CPI new series (2024 base),” SBI Research said in a note. </p>