Published Oct 14, 2026 | 3:58 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 14, 2026 | 4:25 PM
India's inflation numbers offer food for thought for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman .
It’s official. Inflation in India is galloping at a time when premier international bodies like the International Monetary Fund are sharing predictions of India being the world’s fastest-growing economy.
Provisional government data showed wholesale price inflation rising to 11.39 per cent in September, up from 9.92 per cent in August. Among the chief culprits were costlier fuel, food and manufactured products.
All three major components in the wholesale price index — primary articles, fuel and power, and manufactured products — recorded higher year-on-year inflation in September.
Fuel and power inflation led the pack, rising to 25.85 per cent in September from 22.93 per cent in August. Prices of crude petroleum and natural gas surged by as much as 57.32 per cent from 34.41 per cent in August.
Manufactured goods inflation climbed to 9.76 per cent from 8.37 per cent, while primary articles edged up to 8.67 per cent compared to 7.76 per cent in August. Chemicals and chemical products saw a rise of 16.74 per cent, followed by tobacco products at 12.90 per cent, textiles at 13.85 per cent, rubber and plastics at 13.47 per cent, and basic metals at 16.96 per cent.
The wholesale food basket, including both raw food articles and processed food products, saw a sharper rise, jumping to 8.66 per cent from 7.05 per cent.
The jump in prices of food articles was even bigger, up to 8.14 per cent from 5.67 per cent in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Output Producer Price Index rose 11.38 per cent over the year in September.
When it came to the broader picture, cumulative wholesale inflation for the first half of the financial year stood at 9.85%, a stark reversal from the 0.2% contraction recorded during the same period last year.
The data comes two days after the report on retail inflation in September based on the Consumer Price Index.
The year-on-year rise in prices of onion, which had brought down governments earlier, stood at 108.09%. Silver, ginger, garlic and lemon were among the other commodities that had turned significantly pricier.
The retail inflation report had found that southern states were bearing the brunt of the rising prices.
Three southern states — Tamil Nadu (10.62 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (10.18 per cent) and Karnataka (9 per cent) — were found to be among the five states that saw the worst food inflation.
Tamil Nadu, with a 6.81 per cent rise, also led the states in the overall spike in inflation.
Telangana, which recorded a 6.64 per cent rise, and Andhra Pradesh, which recorded a 6.29 per cent rise, followed not too far behind.
Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, had reacted to the numbers by observing that “back-breaking inflation is the reality”.
“The impact of inflation isn’t confined to just the dinner plate. Essentials like transportation, education, clothing, and household goods are all getting more expensive,” he noted.
“…The Prime Minister is drowned in arrogance, paying no attention to the people’s troubles,” he went on to charge.
(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
