India’s Wholesale Inflation Rises to 11.39% in September 2026

The Wholesale Price Index inflation for India climbed to 11.39% in September 2026, as compared to 9.92% in August. It was recorded as the highest figure since the index has been computed with the new base year of 2022-23. The data was announced by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on October 14. There was a general trend of rising prices of various goods including food items, fuel, and manufactured products. The inflation in fuel and power segment surged considerably while food inflation touched 21 months’ peak.

What is Wholesale Price Index (WPI)?

Wholesale Price Index is an index of the changes in the prices of goods that are not yet delivered to the ultimate consumer. In India, the information on the Wholesale Price Index is published by the Office of the Economic Adviser from DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

It mainly focuses on measuring changes in the prices of goods and not the services in the wholesale market.

The current series mentioned in the report considers the year 2022–23 as the base year. Inflation Rate is the measure of percentage change in the index with respect to the same period last year.

Major WPI Inflation Rates for the Month of September 2026

Factors for Wholesale Inflation Upswing

1. Fuel & power inflation surges

Fuel and power inflation climbed to 25.85% in September from 22.93% in August. It is due to the rise in the cost of crude petroleum and natural gas.

Electricity was in negative territory again, indicating that prices are lower than they were a year ago. Yet, the rate of decline slowed down. Higher fuel costs might push up prices of transportation, production, and distribution, increasing inflation in other groups.

2. Food inflation hits 21-month high

Food inflation of the primary articles category increased to 8.14% in September from 5.67% in August. This means higher inflation pressure on food products.

Inflation of primary articles as a whole was at 8.67%. Meanwhile, inflation in the minerals category rose to 9.51%, compared to 8.24%. Non-food inflation in primary articles category declined to 10.28% from 14.79% in August.

It is crucial to track the price changes of food items since it impacts consumers and influences retail inflation even though wholesale and retail prices might not change synchronously.

3. Inflation on manufactured goods rises

The price rise in the group of manufactured goods, which contributes 63.1% to the WPI index, stood at 9.76% in September against 8.37% in August.

There were price rises in the groups of textiles, wearing apparel, chemicals and chemical products, basic metals and electrical equipment. The computer, electronic and optical products turned out to be in positive inflation at 4%, as opposed to months of negative inflation.

Since manufactured goods contribute heavily to the index, price movements here affect inflation in WPI significantly.