Common people buying vegetables in a market in Noida.
Good news has come from the front of inflation. In March, the wholesale price index -based inflation declined to 2.05 percent, which is the lowest level of six months. This information has been given in the government data released on Tuesday. According to PTI news, there has been great relief in wholesale inflation due to softening of vegetables, potatoes and other food items. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was 2.38 percent in February, compared to 0.26 percent in March last year.
Food inflation decreased to 1.57 percent in March
The Ministry of Industry says that the main reason behind the positive rate of inflation last month is the rising prices of products, other manufacturing, food items, electricity and textile manufacturing etc. The ministry said that in September 2024, the wholesale price index -based inflation was 1.91 percent – which is less than 2.05 percent recorded in March. Furthermore, according to the latest data, the Bulk Price Index data stated that food inflation declined from 3.38 percent to 1.57 percent in March, while vegetables saw a huge decline.
Retail inflation decreased minor
Retail inflation also declined slightly to nearly six years low in March 2025. Earlier in August 2019 it was at 3.28 percent level. Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was at 3.61 percent in February and 4.85 percent in March last year. Food inflation stood at 2.69 percent in March, compared to 3.75 percent in February and 8.52 percent in March 2024.
Potato-onion gave great relief
Vegetables declined by 15.88 percent during March 2025, compared to 5.80 percent in February. Potato inflation, which was growing in double digit since February 2024, fell in March 2025. Potato inflation was 6.77 percent in March 2025. Onion inflation declined from 48.05 percent in February to 26.65 percent in March. However, it was also observed in the data that the products made in March saw an increase of 3.07 percent, while it was 2.86 percent in February. Fuel and electricity also saw an increase of 0.20 percent in March, while it was 0.71 percent in February.
What do experts say
Paras Jasarai, Associate Director, India Ratings and Research, says that wholesale inflation for FY 2025 was 2.3 percent on an average. This is more than (-0.7 percent) last year, but is much lower than 11.2 percent in FY 22-23. The positive effect of low commodity prices will be felt through low bulk inflation. Food inflation will be soft due to the result of satisfactory closing of Rabi production. It is expected that wholesale inflation will be around 1.5 percent in the near future.
Latest business news
