India's WPI inflation cools marginally to 9.78% in July as fuel prices ease

New Delhi: India's wholesale price inflation (WPI) rose 9.78% year-on-year in July 2026, easing from 9.87% in June, as energy inflation moderated, while price pressures in primary articles and manufactured products strengthened, according to provisional data released by the commerce ministry on Friday.

Inflation in primary articles increased 8.52% year-on-year in July from a 7% rise in June, while manufactured product prices rose 8.29% from 7.48%. Inflation in fuel and power, however, moderated to 20.05% from 27.41% in the previous month.

Within primary articles, non-food articles inflation rose sharply to 17.66% in July from 11.07% in June, while inflation in minerals increased to 13.28% from 9.45%. Food articles inflation eased marginally to 5.44% from 5.49%.

"The WPI inflation eased marginally to 9.8% in July 2026 from 9.9% in June 2026 and slightly undershot our estimate (+10.0%) for the month. The moderation was not broad-based and was entirely led by the fuel and power group whereas all the other groups witnessed a hardening in their inflation prints in July 2026 vis-à-vis June 2026," said Rahul Agrawal, principal economist at Icra Ltd.

Within fuel and power, inflation in mineral oils moderated to 32.4% in July from 46.48% in June. Inflation in crude petroleum and natural gas also declined to 26.99% from 34.75%.

Manufacturing price pressures remained elevated. Inflation in manufacture of food products rose to 8.89% in July from 7.2% in June. Inflation in chemicals and chemical products increased to 13.12% from 12.78%, while basic metals inflation stood at 12.56%, compared with 12.31% in June.

The Wholesale Price Index for all commodities stood at 110.0 in July, compared with 110.2 in June.

Inflation in textiles accelerated to 12.8% in July from 10.85% in June. Inflation in electrical equipment rose to 12.34% from 11.03%, while rubber and plastic products inflation increased to 10.38% from 9.94%.

Food items, which have a weight of 24.99%, recorded inflation of 6.65% in July, up from 6.14% in June. The index comprises food articles from the primary articles group and manufactured food products.

"Looking ahead, we anticipate a larger easing in the WPI inflation to below 9.5% in August 2026, after peaking at 9.9% each during May-June 2026. Nevertheless, prints are likely to remain elevated through much of the year, with an average WPI inflation forecast of around 8.5% for fiscal year 2027 (FY27), feeding into a high nominal GDP growth figure as well," Agrawal said.

For April-July of FY27, cumulative WPI inflation stood at 9.47%, compared with a decline of 0.2% during the corresponding period of FY26.

Cumulative inflation in fuel and power during the April-July period stood at 25.8%, while primary articles inflation was 6.19% and manufactured products inflation was 7.48%.

The ministry revised the final WPI index for May 2026 to 110.1, from the provisional estimate of 109.9. Consequently, WPI inflation for May was revised upwards to 9.88% from 9.68%.

The ministry also released provisional estimates of the Output Producer Price Index (Output PPI). The all-commodities Output PPI was at 109.9 in July, unchanged from June.

The Output PPI for agriculture, forestry and fishing rose to 115.6 in July from 114.1 in June, while the index for mining and quarrying declined to 119.4 from 121.5.

The index for manufactured products declined to 108.8 from 109.2, while electricity rose to 92.4 from 92.0.

The final Output PPI for May was revised upwards to 109.9 from 109.6.

The trial Input Producer Price Index (IPPI) for the manufacturing sector stood at 105.9 in July, down from 107.1 in June. The index had stood at 106.5 in May after being revised upwards from the provisional estimate of 104.9.

Among manufacturing industries, the input price index for food products rose to 113.8 in July from 112.2 in June, while chemicals stood at 109.4 against 112.5. The index for basic metals increased to 101.5 from 99.2.