Provisional government figures published on Wednesday put wholesale price inflation at 11.39 per cent for September, up from 9.92 per cent the previous month, with costlier fuel, crude petroleum, food articles, and a range of manufactured goods driving the increase. Wholesale price levels across all commodities climbed to an index reading of 112.5 in September, up from 110.8 the previous month, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported.
Inflation across two tracked groupings accelerated between the two most recent reporting periods, with the ministry noting that primary articles moved from 7.76 per cent to 8.67 per cent while fuel and power registered a steeper shift, rising from 22.93 per cent to 25.85 per cent. Manufactured goods — the category carrying the heaviest weighting within the index — recorded a price rise of 9.76 per cent.
According to a statement from the ministry, the upward pressure on wholesale prices in September traced back to a range of commodity and industrial categories, among them mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum and natural gas, coal and lignite, basic metals, chemicals and chemical products, textiles, rubber and plastic products, and electrical equipment.
Wholesale food prices, as tracked by the WPI Food Index, climbed to an annual rate of 8.66 per cent through September, up from the 7.05 per cent pace logged a month earlier in August. Mineral oils posted a 40.02 per cent price rise within the fuel basket, while crude petroleum and natural gas saw their year-on-year rate climb to 57.32 per cent. Government statistics show the combined index for fuel and power climbed to 110.5 in September, up from a reading of 108.3 the month before.
The Output Producer Price Index for all commodities registered a reading of 112.5 in September, climbing from the 110.8 level recorded the previous month. Manufacturing sector input costs, as tracked by the trial Input Producer Price Index, edged up to 106.1 during September after registering 104.2 the month before.
Revised figures from the government confirmed that July's WPI held at an index reading of 110.0, with the corresponding annual inflation rate also holding steady at 9.78 per cent. According to a ministry statement, the July 2026 wholesale price index — calculated against the 2022-23 base year — reached its definitive form on the strength of a 98.97 per cent weighted response rate.
Drawn from responses covering 83.4 per cent of weighted contributors, the advance WPI figure for September 2026 uses 2022-23 as its reference base year. Wholesale price index figures alongside output and trial input producer price data covering October are scheduled for publication on 16 November.
