India’s wholesale inflation eases to 0.13% in June, lowest since Oct’23

India’s wholesale inflation eased to 0.13 per cent in June on an annual basis, marking the lowest rate recorded since October 2023, government data said on Monday. Notably, it was down at a 14-month low of 0.39 per cent in May.

Inflation in manufactured products, which account for over 60 per cent of the wholesale inflation basket, came in at 1.97 per cent for the month. The inflation rate for primary articles contracted to 3.38 per cent in June, compared to 2.02 per cent in May.

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Meanwhile, inflation in fuel and power slowed to 2.65 per cent, against 22.27 per cent in the previous month.

The Index for Primary articles, which carries a weightage of 22.62 per cent, rose by 0.81 per cent in June, reflecting price gains in minerals (1.49 per cent), non-food articles (1.26 per cent), and food articles (0.82 per cent). However, crude petroleum & natural gas saw a decline of 0.44 per cent.

The Fuel & Power segment, carrying a weight of 13.15 per cent, saw the steepest drop, falling 2.52 per cent month-over-month. The decline was led by a sharp 9.10 per cent drop in electricity prices, along with lower prices for mineral oils (-0.54 per cent ) and coal (-0.07 per cent).

Onion inflation eased to 33.49 per cent, down from 14.41 per cent a month earlier; whereas, potato inflation stood at (-)32.67 per cent, compared to (-)29.42 per cent in May. Prices of pulses stood at (-)22.65 per cent, against 10.41 per cent in the prior month, while cereal inflation fell to 3.75 per cent after recording 2.56 per cent in May.

Notably, in May, India’s retail inflation fell to a more than six-year low of 2.82 per cent in May 2025. The figure represents a decline of 34 basis points from April and marks the lowest annual inflation rate recorded since February 2019.

In its April Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Reserve Bank of India cited a continued moderation in price pressures, mainly driven by softer food costs.

It projected further easing in FY26, offering relief to consumers. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) revised its FY26 inflation forecast to 4 per cent, down from its earlier projection of 4.2 per cent.