Wholesale inflation increased to 9.87 percent in June due to the rise in prices of food and non-food items. In May it was 9.68 percent. This rise in wholesale inflation reflects the West Asia crisis, the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and its impact on food prices. India imports most of its crude oil through this strait. Releasing the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data on Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that the wholesale inflation data for June 2026 was influenced by the prices of mineral oils (which includes petroleum products), food items, manufactured base metals and manufactured chemicals and chemical products. The base year for calculation of WPI is 2022-23. The special thing is that wholesale inflation has seen an increase for the 8th consecutive month. Let us also tell you what kind of figures have been seen from the government…
Government released inflation figures
According to the ministry’s data, wholesale inflation in the fuel and power category stood at 27.41 percent in June, while it was 30.33 percent in May. Inflation in food items increased to 5.49 percent in June which was 3.60 percent in May. Wholesale inflation in non-food items stood at 11.07 percent while in minerals category it was recorded at 9.45 percent. Like May, wholesale inflation in the category of manufactured products remained stable at 7.48 percent in June also.
In this category, prices of 22 out of 24 manufacturing groups increased month-on-month. The largest increase was seen in basic metals, chemicals and chemical products, food products, machinery and equipment, and other manufacturing, while prices of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products, and fabricated metal products declined. The WPI index of all commodities increased from 109.9 in May to 110.2 in June. The index of primary articles increased from 113.7 to 116.1, while the index of fuel and power decreased from 113.0 to 111.1. The index of manufactured products remained stable at 107.8.
Based on revised WPI series
The data for June is based on the Revised Wholesale Price Index (WPI) series, in which 2022-23 is considered as the base year. The government started it last month to better show the current structure of the economy. In the new series, the commodity basket has been expanded to 957 items from 697 items in the previous 2011-12 base year and new products from different sectors have been included in it, including renewable energy sources like solar and wind electricity and nuclear electricity. The government also revised the final estimate of WPI inflation for April 2026 to 8.36 per cent from 8.26 per cent (initial estimate), as the WPI index was revised to 108.9 from 108.8.
Retail inflation at 17 months high
Retail or Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation also increased to a 17-month high of 4.38 percent in June, whereas it was 3.93 percent in the previous month. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mainly considers consumer inflation while deciding monetary policy. The government has assigned the responsibility of maintaining the total inflation at four percent with a variation of two percent. Last month, RBI had increased its inflation estimate for the current financial year from 4.6 percent to 5.1 percent. For this, the main reason given was the increase in cost due to the impact of increase in global energy prices on retail petrol and diesel prices.
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