Wholesale inflation climbs to an 11-month high of 2.13 percent
WPI inflation seen accelerating in March as the West Asia conflict pushes crude oil prices higher, experts warn
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Prefer us on GoogleLast Updated: Mar 16, 2026, 13:10 IST1 min
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Wholesale price inflation (WPI) rose to its highest level in 11 months in February 2026 at 2.13 percent, driven by a broad-based pickup in manufactured goods and primary articles, government data released on Monday shows.
WPI for February was up from 1.81 percent in January, marking the highest reading since March 2025. The figure completes a sharp turnaround from the deflationary trend seen in the middle of last year, when WPI had slipped to as low as -1.02 percent in October 2025.
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Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda, warned that the trend could accelerate sharply in the March figures, which will capture the effects of the conflict in West Asia and the higher weightage assigned to crude oil in the index. “This number is likely to rise faster from March onwards once the higher oil price effects get embedded in the index,” he says, adding that WPI, while not a direct policy tool, would reflect the impact of crude at $100 per barrel more effectively than Consumer Price Index (CPI). “The impact on manufactured products would be important as this will be the basis for transmission of higher cost to products which enter CPI,” he notes.
Manufactured products, which carry the largest weight in the index, underpinned the rise, with inflation in this segment rising to 2.92 percent. Sabnavis attributed the increase mainly to metal products, textiles and tobacco.
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Primary articles also added pressure, with inflation in that category rising to 3.27 percent. Food articles rose to 2.19 percent, driven by fruits, vegetables, and the meat and eggs segments, while cereals and pulses, both still in deflation, tempered the overall increase. Within non-food articles, oilseeds increased by 25.38 percent. Sabnavis noted prices would remain elevated until the rabi mustard harvest arrives after April, though incoming rabi crops of chana and wheat should help ease pressure on pulses and cereals.
The one clear offset was fuel and power, which remained in deflation at -3.78 percent, with petrol, diesel and LPG all registering negative year-on-year readings, though Sabnavis cautioned this buffer may not last much longer given global crude price trends.
First Published: Mar 16, 2026, 13:16
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