Inflation bites: WPI spikes 12-year high to 14.23 percent in November

New Delhi: The result of milking petroleum products by the central and state governments with a super high rate of value-added tax rates is here. The inflation has literally skyrocketed. The wholesale inflation spiked to 14.23 percent in November 2021, as per the data released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on December 14. Measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), the wholesale inflation rate in India has gone higher for the second consecutive month. In October, a spike of 12.5 percent was recorded by the government. These figures are 12 years high. This means the last people witnessed this high level of inflation was during the UPA-II government led by Congress. 

On a year-on-year basis, the WPI inflation has massively surged in November. In the same month in 2020, the wholesale inflation rate stood at 2.29 percent.

"The high rate of inflation in November 2021 is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, crude petroleum & natural gas, chemicals and chemical products, food products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year," the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in an official release.

While the WPI inflation rate for all commodities spiked by 14.23 percent, it soared by 39.81 percent for fuel and power specifically, the government data showed. In October 2021, the wholesale inflation rate for fuel and power came in at 37.18 percent.

For food products, the wholesale inflation spiked by 6.70 percent in November, as compared to 3.06 percent in the preceding month.

The data on WPI inflation was released a day after the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation announced that retail inflation rate marginally increased to 4.91 percent in November 2021.

While the wholesale inflation has raised concerns in October and November, the retail inflation rate has remained within the Reserve Bank of India-set target of six percent since July this year.

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