India’s wholesale prices increased 3.88% yoy in March 2026, accelerating from a 2.13% rise in February and surpassing expectations of 3%. This marked the fastest growth since January 2023, driven by a quicker rise in manufacturing costs and a rebound in fuel prices, amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Food inflation remained steady. Prices for fuel and power rebounded (1.05% vs -3.78%), marking the first rise in a year, boosted by a recovery in petrol prices (2.50% vs -5.38%) and HSD (3.26% vs -3.27%). Meanwhile, manufacturing inflation accelerated to 3.39% from 2.92%, marking the fastest pace since November 2022, led by textiles (4.91% vs 3.29%), leather and related products (3.03% vs 1.58%), and chemicals and chemicals (2.19% vs 0.55%). Also, primary articles rose faster (6.36% vs 3.27%), mainly due to higher costs of non-food articles (11.50% vs 8.80%), while the food index remained at 1.85%. Monthly, wholesale prices rose 1.64%, accelerating from 0.38% in February.
