India's WPI Inflation Turns Positive in December, Hits 0.83%

Food inflation was estimated at 0 per cent as there was no increase in the wholesale prices of food in December, compared to the same month of the preceding year.

The manufactured products group which has a weight of 64.23 per cent in WPI increased by 0.41 per cent during the month. Out of the 22 products in the group, 13 groups witnessed an increase in prices, 8 groups witnessed a decrease in prices and one group witnessed no change in prices.

Some of the important groups that showed month-over-month increase in prices were basic metals; chemicals and chemical products; textiles and other non-metallic mineral products. Some of the groups that witnessed a decrease in prices were manufacture of rubber and plastics products; food products; computer, electronic and optical products; paper and paper products and beverages etc. in December 2025 as compared to November 2025.

India's inflation rate based on wholesale prices was in the negative zone in November, as prices declined by (-) 0.32 per cent during the month compared to the same month of the previous year. WPI-based inflation was (-) 1.21 per cent in the previous month of October and 2.16 per cent in November last year.

Meanwhile, the country's inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was estimated at 1.33 per cent for December 2025 which is marginally higher than the corresponding figure of 0.71 per cent for November.

Food inflation stayed in the negative zone during December at -2.71 per cent as prices of food goods fell compared to the same month of the previous year. Food inflation has now stayed negative for the seventh month in a row, easing the burden on household budgets. However, the figure for Dec was a tad higher than the -3.91 per cent recorded for Nov.

However, the overall outlook for inflation remains benign. The RBI's monetary policy committee (MPC) last month slashed its forecast for India's inflation rate for the financial year 2025-26 to 2 per cent from 2.6 per predicted in October due to the sharp decline in food prices and the GST rate cuts playing out.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced a reduction in the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25 per cent from 5.5 per cent earlier as inflation has come down and the monetary policy could focus on boosting growth.

Malhotra said that the surge in economic growth to 8.2 per cent growth in the second quarter of the current financial year and the sharp decline in inflation to 1.7 per cent provided a rare "Goldilocks period" for the Indian economy.

- IANS