New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) India’s inflation rate, based on the wholesale price index, edged up to 3.88 per cent during March, compared to the same month of the previous year, primarily due to the increase in prices of crude oil and natural gas and manufactured products.

The WPI inflation was higher than the corresponding figure of 2.13 per cent recorded in February this year.

WPI food inflation remained constant at 1.85 per cent in March this year compared to the same month of the previous year.

The month-on-month WPI inflation in the fuel and power group went up by 4.13 per cent in March compared to February as crude oil and gas prices shot up by as much as 36.16 per cent during the month due to the Middle East conflict. However, this was offset to an extent by the decline in electricity costs by (-) 5.07 per cent, the figures showed.

The Food Index, consisting of foodgrains such as cereals and pulses as well as manufactured food products, have marginally decreased in March compared to February.

The WPI inflation in manufactured products increased by 0.88 per cent during the month, compared to the previous month, with 16 of the 22 products in the group recording an increase in prices while six posted a decline.

Meanwhile, the country’s inflation rate, based on the new Consumer Price Index (CPI), went up to 3.4 per cent in March compared to the same month of the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics on Monday.

The commodities that recorded the highest inflation during the month were silver jewellery which saw a 148.61 per cent jump in prices and gold jewellery which clocked a 45.92 per cent increase in prices,

Overall food inflation in March stood at 3.87 per cent, largely because vegetables such as tomato and cauliflower turned more expensive during the month. However, the prices of onion, potato and garlic recorded a double-digit decline during the month compared to the same month of the previous year, while pulses also turned cheaper. The prices of arhar and tur dropped by 9.56 per cent, while chickpea registered a 7.87 per cent fall in prices.

Sequentially, the inflation in March was a tad higher than 3.21 per cent in the previous month of February and the revised figure of 2.74 per cent for January this year, when the new series was launched.

–IANS

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