India’s consumer inflation rises to 0.52%: Index at 4-month high, turns positive after 2 months

Wholesale price inflation (WPI) returned to the positive zone after two months at 0.52 per cent in August, as prices of food articles and manufactured items inched up, government data showed on Monday.

WPI-based inflation was (-) 0.58 and (-) 0.19 per cent in July and June, respectively. It was 1.25 per cent in August last year.

“Positive rate of inflation in August 2025 is primarily due to an increase in prices of food products, manufacturing, non-food articles, non-metallic mineral products and transport equipment etc,” the industry ministry said in a statement.

As per WPI data, deflation in food articles was 3.06 per cent in August, as against a deflation of 6.29 per cent in July, with vegetables witnessing a spike in prices. Deflation in vegetables was 14.18 per cent in August, as against 28.96 per cent in July.

In the case of manufactured products, inflation was higher at 2.55 per cent in August, as against 2.05 per cent in the month before.

Fuel and power saw a negative inflation or deflation of 3.17 per cent in August, as against 2.43 per cent in July.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which takes into account retail inflation, had kept benchmark policy rates unchanged at 5.5 per cent last month.

After declining for nine months since November 2024, retail inflation inched up to 2.07 per cent in August, driven by a rise in prices of kitchen items, like vegetables, meat, fish, and eggs, data released last week showed.