New Delhi

India’s wholesale price inflation edged up for the second consecutive month, rising marginally to 0.83 per cent in December 2025, supported by higher prices of food items, non-food articles and manufactured goods, according to official data released on Wednesday.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation returned to positive territory in December after remaining in deflation for two months. In November and October, wholesale prices had contracted by 0.32 per cent and 1.21 per cent, respectively.

A year earlier, WPI inflation stood at 2.57 per cent in December 2024.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the uptick in December was largely driven by price increases in sectors such as manufacturing, minerals, machinery and equipment, food products, textiles and other industrial goods.

Food articles continued to witness deflation, though at a much slower pace. The category recorded a contraction of 0.43 per cent in December, compared to 4.16 per cent in November. Vegetable prices, in particular, showed a sharp moderation in deflation, easing to 3.50 per cent from 20.23 per cent in the previous month.

Inflation in manufactured products rose to 1.82 per cent in December from 1.33 per cent in November, while the non-food articles segment recorded an inflation rate of 2.95 per cent, up from 2.27 per cent.

The fuel and power group continued to remain in deflationary territory, with prices declining by 2.31 per cent in December, broadly unchanged from the previous month.

Earlier data showed that retail inflation also edged up to 1.33 per cent in December from 0.71 per cent in November, mainly due to rising food prices.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which primarily bases its policy decisions on retail inflation, has cut interest rates by 125 basis points during the current financial year amid a prolonged phase of low inflation. Last month, the central bank reduced the benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points to 5.25 per cent, describing the economy as being in a “Goldilocks phase” of strong growth and subdued inflation.

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The RBI has also lowered its inflation forecast for the current fiscal to 2 per cent and raised its GDP growth projection for FY26 to 7.3 per cent, from an earlier estimate of 6.8 per cent.