WPI inflation for apparel dips 0.8% in January 2020

India’s annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index (WPI), for January 2020, stood at 3.1 per cent over January 2019. The index for textiles dipped 0.4 per cent while for apparel it was down 0.8 per cent in January, according to the provisional data released by the Office of the Economic Adviser, ministry of commerce and industry. The official WPI for all commodities (Base: 2011-12 = 100) for the month of January 2020 rose by 0.1 per cent to 122.9 from the previous month’s level of 122.8, the data showed.

The index for manufactured products (weight 64.23 per cent) for January 2020 rose by 0.4 per cent to 118.5 from the previous month level
of 118.0. The index for ‘Manufacture
of Wearing Apparel’ sub-group declined by 0.8 per cent to 138.0 from 139.1
for the previous month due to lower price of manufacture of wearing apparel (woven), except fur apparel
(1 per cent).

The index for ‘Manufacture of Textiles’ sub-group also declined by
0.4 per cent to 116.4 from 116.9 for the previous month due to lower price of cotton yarn and manufacture of other textiles (1 per cent each). However, the price of woollen yarn moved up by
1 per cent.

The index for primary articles (weight 22.62 per cent) dropped by
1.1 per cent to 147.2 from 148.8 for
the previous month. The index for fuel
and power (weight 13.15 per cent), however, rose by 1.4 per cent to 102.7 from 101.3 for the previous month. While prices of furnace oil, naphtha, ATF, LPG, HSD and kerosene increased, price of bitumen declined.