India’s Wholesale Inflation Hits 38-Month High of 3.88% as West Asia Crisis Drives Global Energy Costs
The surge in inflation was primarily due to a jump in prices of crude petroleum and natural gas, other manufacturing items, food and non-food articles, manufacture of basic metals etc
New Delhi: India’s wholesale inflation accelerated to a more than three-year high of 3.88 per cent in March this year from 2.13 per cent in February following the mounting price pressures as global commodity costs rise amid ongoing tensions in West Asia. The surge in inflation was primarily due to a jump in prices of crude petroleum and natural gas, other manufacturing items, food and non-food articles, manufacture of basic metals etc, the government said on Wednesday.
As per the industry ministry data, the wholesale price index or WPI-based inflation rose for the fifth straight month in March as core inflation accelerated, amid softening of primary food items. “The WPI inflation was 2.13 per cent in February, and 2.25 per cent in March last year,” the ministry data showed in a statement.
Positive rate of inflation in March 2026 is primarily due to increase in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, other manufacturing, non-food articles, manufacture of basic metals and food articles, etc. The inflation in the fuel and power basket spiked to 1.05 per cent in March, from a deflation of 3.78 per cent in February,” the ministry said.
AS per the data, inflation in crude petroleum surged to 51.57 per cent during March, against a deflation of 1.29 per cent in the previous month. Similarly, manufactured products inflation also went up to 3.39 per cent in March, from 2.92 per cent in February,” the data showed.
Commenting on the WPI inflation, Rahul Agrawal, senior economist, Icra Ltd, said that the inflation nearly doubled to a 38-month high of 3.9 per cent in March 2026 and printed largely in line with the Icra’s expectations. “While the uptick was broad-based, the crude petroleum and natural gas, and the fuel and power groups witnessed sizable hardening in their YoY inflation rates, reflecting the impact of the surge in global energy prices owing to the West Asia crisis,” Agrawal said.
In a research note, Barclays also said that March WPI is the sharpest month-on-month increase seen since August 2023. “As global energy prices stay elevated and eventually trickle to other commodity prices, we expect WPI inflation to rise further going ahead,” Barclays said, adding that it expects RBI to persist with a pause in interest rates through 2026.
