Wholesale inflation rises to a 3-year high of 3.88% in March

India’s wholesale inflation rose to a 38-month high of 3.9% year-on-year in March, up from 2.1% in February, driven by higher prices of crude, power and manufactured goods amid the West Asia war, official data released Wednesday showed.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation stood at 2.3% in March 2025. Meanwhile, retail inflation also edged up to 3.4% in March compared with 3.2% in February, due to an increase in food and fuel prices.

“Positive rate of inflation in March 2026 is primarily due to an increase in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, other manufacturing, non-food articles, manufacture of basic metals and food articles etc.,” the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.


Supply disruptions during the month significantly pushed up input costs, including sulphuric acid (77.2%), brass metal/sheet/coils (22.9%), copper wire (21.9%), aluminium powder (15.8%) and aluminium alloys (13.5%).

Inflation in the fuel and power segment turned positive at 1.1% in March, compared with a deflation of 3.8% in February. Crude petroleum prices spiked 51.6% in March, reversing a 1.3% decline the month before.

Globally, crude oil prices have surged by over 50% since the crisis began on February 28.

Manufactured products, which account for 64.23% of the WPI basket, rose 3.4% in March from 2.9% in February. Out of 22 manufactured sub-groups, 16 recorded price increases, including basic metals (4%), textiles (4.9%), food products (1.8%), and chemical products (2.2%).

Inflation in primary articles increased to 6.4% in March from 3.3% in February. Food, which accounts for around a quarter of the WPI basket, rose 1.85% during the month.

Within major food categories, prices of cereals, pulses and wheat declined by 2.5%, 5.2% and 4.6%, respectively. In contrast, vegetable prices rose 1.5%, although key items such as potato and onion saw sharp declines of 27.9% and 42.1%, respectively.