NEW DELHI: Wholesale price based-index (WPI) cooled down to 3.85% in February from 4.73% in the previous month. The fall in wholesale inflation is due to fall in crude petroleum & natural gas, non-food articles, food articles, minerals, computer, electronic & optical products, chemical & chemical products, electrical equipment and motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, according to the Commerce Ministry.
The WPI has fallen nearly 10 percentage points since last February when it was reported at 13.43%. Inflation in food and wheat rose to 3.81% and 18.54% from 2.38% and 13.95%, respectively, in January this year. Inflation in paddy, fruits, milk and eggs, meat and fish stood at 8.60%, 7.02%, 10.33%, and 1.49%, respectively, in February.
Also, inflation in vegetables was registered at -21.53% in February as against –26.45% in the last month of this year. Inflation in potato has come down massively at -14.30% from 9.78% in the last month, besides onion, in which the inflation was recorded at -40.14% from -25.20% in January. Meanwhile, the recent consumer price-based inflation (CPI) data showed retail inflation moderated to 6.44% in February from 6.52% in January this year.