New Delhi, February 16 Wholesale price inflation continued its upward trend for the third consecutive month, reaching 1.81 per cent in January, driven by increases in the prices of food, non-food items, and manufactured goods on a month-over-month basis, according to government data released on Monday.
Inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was 2.51 per cent in January of the previous year, while in the previous month (December 2025), it was 0.83 per cent.
"The positive rate of inflation in January 2026 is primarily due to increases in the prices of basic metals, other manufacturing, non-food items, food items, and textiles, etc.," the Ministry of Industry said in a statement.
According to WPI data, inflation in food items was 1.55 per cent in January, compared to deflation of 0.43 per cent in December.
In vegetables, inflation was 6.78 per cent in January, compared to deflation of 3.50 per cent in December.
In the case of manufactured products, WPI inflation increased to 2.86 per cent, compared to 1.82 per cent in December.
Inflation in the non-food items category spiked to 7.58 per cent in January, compared to 2.95 per cent in December.
Deflation, or negative inflation, continued in the fuel and power sectors, at 4.01 per cent in January, compared to 2.31 per cent in December.
The country's retail inflation rose to 2.75 per cent in January, according to data released last week.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced policy interest rates by 1.25 percentage points in the current fiscal year due to low inflation.
The RBI primarily monitors retail inflation to determine benchmark interest rates. Earlier this month, the RBI maintained key policy interest rates at 5.25 per cent.
