Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 14: Wholesale price inflation moved back into positive territory in December, with the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rising to 0.83%, official data released on Wednesday showed. This marks the second consecutive month of upward movement after two months of deflation.

Wholesale inflation had contracted in October and November, when WPI stood at (-)1.21% and (-)0.32% respectively. In December last year, wholesale inflation was higher at 2.57%.

According to the industry ministry, the rise in December was driven by higher prices in multiple segments. “Positive rate of inflation in December 2025 is primarily due to an increase in prices of other manufacturing, minerals, manufacture of machinery and equipment, manufacture of food products and textiles,” the ministry said.

Food articles continued to remain in deflation, though the pressure eased considerably. Deflation in this category narrowed to 0.43% in December from 4.16% in November. Vegetable prices also stayed in negative territory, but the contraction reduced sharply to 3.50% from 20.23% in the previous month.

Manufactured products showed further firming, with inflation rising to 1.82% in December compared to 1.33% in November. Non-food articles recorded inflation of 2.95%, up from 2.27% a month earlier.

The fuel and power segment, however, remained in deflationary territory, with prices declining by 2.31% in December, marginally higher than the 2.27% fall recorded in November.

Retail inflation also edged up during the month. Data released earlier showed that consumer price inflation rose to 1.33% in December from 0.71% in November, largely due to an uptick in food prices.

Against the backdrop of subdued inflation, the Reserve Bank of India has cut policy interest rates by a cumulative 1.25 percentage points so far in the current financial year. Last month, the RBI lowered the key policy rate by 25 basis points to 5.25% and revised its inflation forecast for the year downward to 2% from 2.6%, citing rapid disinflation.

The central bank, which uses retail inflation as its primary benchmark, described the economy as being in a “rare Goldilocks period” of strong growth combined with low inflation. It has also raised its GDP growth estimate for FY26 to 7.3%, from an earlier projection of 6.8%. India recorded GDP growth of 8.2% in the September quarter and 7.8% in the June quarter.