🗞️ Why in News
On 14 October 2026 the Ministry of Commerce and Industry released provisional Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data for September 2026. Year-on-year WPI inflation was 11.39%, up from 9.92% in August. Among the major groups, Fuel and Power stood at 25.85%, Manufactured Products at 9.76% and Primary Articles at 8.67%. The same release confirmed July’s final rate at 9.78%, unchanged from the provisional figure.
September 2026 at a Glance
The WPI is compiled and released by the Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA) in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is not a MoSPI index. The series in use has base year 2022-23.
| Measure | August 2026 (provisional) | September 2026 (provisional) |
|---|---|---|
| All commodities, inflation | 9.92% | 11.39% |
| All commodities, index (base 2022-23) | 110.8 | 112.5 |
| Primary Articles (weight 22.76) | 7.76% | 8.67% |
| Fuel and Power (weight 14.11) | 22.93% | 25.85% |
| Manufactured Products (weight 63.13) | 8.37% | 9.76% |
| WPI Food Index (weight 24.99) | 7.05% | 8.66% |
Weights are the release’s commodity weights, rounded to two decimals; all commodities = 100.
All three major groups rose in September. The all-commodities index went from 110.8 to 112.5 in one month, a rise of about 1.5% (our calculation from the two index values; the release itself reports year-on-year rates).
The Six-Month Trend
Annexure-II of the release gives six months of rates. April to July are final; August and September are provisional.
| Month (2026) | All commodities | Primary Articles | Fuel and Power | Manufactured Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April (final) | 8.36% | 3.96% | 25.00% | 6.68% |
| May (final) | 9.88% | 5.26% | 30.80% | 7.68% |
| June (final) | 9.97% | 7.00% | 27.18% | 7.78% |
| July (final) | 9.78% | 8.61% | 19.82% | 8.29% |
| August (provisional) | 9.92% | 7.76% | 22.93% | 8.37% |
| September (provisional) | 11.39% | 8.67% | 25.85% | 9.76% |
Three readings follow from the table, and none needs a guess about causes:
- 11.39% is the highest of the six monthly rates in the release. The release does not compare it with any earlier peak, so a “highest since” claim cannot rest on it.
- Fuel and Power had the highest rate of the three groups in each of the six months, but its peak in this window was May (30.80%), not September.
- Manufactured Products climbed every month, from 6.68% in April to 9.76% in September. With a weight of 63.13, this group carries most of the index.
Cumulative inflation for April to September (Annexure-IV) was 9.85% in FY 2026-27, against -0.20% in FY 2025-26 and 1.72% in FY 2024-25.
What the Release Names as Drivers
WPI inflation, September 2026: from headline to drivers
The headline rate, the three major groups, the sub-groups the release names and the gap with retail inflation.
The release lists nine groups as “drivers of WPI inflation in September 2026”: Mineral Oils (containing Petroleum Products), Food Articles, Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas, Coal and Lignite, and the manufacture of Basic Metals, Chemicals and Chemical Products, Textiles, Rubber and Plastic Products and Electrical Equipment. It names them; it does not say why their prices rose.
| Sub-group (major group) | Weight | August 2026 | September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral Oils (Fuel and Power) | 8.19 | 38.48% | 40.02% |
| Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas (Fuel and Power) | 0.72 | 34.41% | 57.32% |
| Coal and Lignite (Fuel and Power) | 0.74 | 1.57% | 9.31% |
| Electricity (Fuel and Power) | 4.46 | -1.73% | -0.43% |
| Food Articles (Primary Articles) | 15.98 | 5.67% | 8.14% |
| Non-Food Articles (Primary Articles) | 5.53 | 14.79% | 10.28% |
| Minerals (Primary Articles) | 1.25 | 8.24% | 9.51% |
| Manufacture of Food Products (Manufactured) | 9.02 | 9.65% | 9.44% |
| Manufacture of Textiles (Manufactured) | 4.09 | 12.63% | 13.85% |
Read the rate together with the weight. Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas shows the steepest rate, but its weight is under 1. Mineral Oils alone carry 8.19 of Fuel and Power’s 14.11. Electricity prices were still lower than a year earlier (-0.43%), and, among the sub-groups in this table, two eased in September: Non-Food Articles and Manufacture of Food Products.
Food: Wholesale and Retail
The WPI Food Index (weight 24.99%) combines Food Articles from Primary Articles with Manufacture of Food Products from Manufactured Products. It rose to 8.66% in September from 7.05% in August.
Retail food inflation, measured by MoSPI’s Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), was 7.74% in September, up from 5.97% (final) in August. The two indices use different baskets, weights and prices, so read them for direction rather than level: both point to food inflation rising in September. For The Hindu’s argument on retail food prices this week, see our editorial page on “Spiralling food prices”.
The WPI-CPI Gap
Retail inflation for September 2026, by MoSPI’s Consumer Price Index (base 2024), was 5.54% (provisional), as covered in our CPI deep dive of 13 October. Wholesale inflation was more than double that.
| WPI | CPI | |
|---|---|---|
| Compiled by | Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) | Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) |
| Base | 2022-23 | 2024 |
| Prices | basic price, which “excludes Net Tax and Trade & Transport Margin” | retail prices |
| Coverage | three major groups: Primary Articles, Fuel and Power, Manufactured Products | consumer spending divisions, including housing and transport |
| Main use named in official text | “price escalation clauses” | the RBI’s inflation target, set “in terms of the Consumer Price Index” (Section 45ZA, RBI Act, 1934) |
| August 2026 | 9.92% (provisional) | 4.83% (final) |
| September 2026 | 11.39% (provisional) | 5.54% (provisional) |
| Gap (our calculation) | 5.09 points in August; 5.85 points in September |
The wholesale-retail gap widened by about 0.8 percentage points in a month. Three points help in reading it:
- The two indices measure different things. WPI prices exclude taxes and trade and transport margins, and services are not among its groups; the new Service Producer Price Index covers seven services separately. A gap in levels is therefore normal; its direction over time is the useful signal.
- Each serves a different user. Contracts with price escalation clauses can move with the WPI, while monetary policy targets CPI inflation of 4% within a band of plus or minus 2%.
- Whether wholesale pressure reaches the shop shelf is an open question. It is a point to watch in the coming months’ CPI and WPI prints, not one this release answers.
The New Series: Base 2022-23
This is the fifth monthly print on the new base. Its key features, from the official notices:
- Approved on 25 May 2026 “by the competent authority”, after the Technical Advisory Committee on Statistics of Price and Cost of Living approved the method and it was presented before the National Statistical Commission.
- First released on 15 June 2026, with May 2026 (provisional) data and a back series from April 2023 to April 2026 (37 months). It replaced the 2011-12 series, which was discontinued. Our report on that first release has the detail.
- Items: “increased from 697 to 957”.
- Electricity: solar and wind added; nuclear electricity included.
- Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas “shifted from ‘Primary Articles’ to ‘Fuel and Power’ major group”.
- Weights: based on Gross Value of Output (GVO) instead of Net Traded Value (GVO plus imports minus exports).
- Method: elementary indices use a short-term formulation; missing prices are filled by Targeted Mean Imputation instead of Carry Forward.
- Linking factor to the old series (FY 2024-25 geometric means): 1.53 for all commodities, 1.71 Primary Articles, 1.65 Fuel and Power, 1.44 Manufactured Products. Users are “advised to exercise due caution while interpreting and comparing the indices across the two series”.
- WPI to PPI: the WPI will be released for five years from the new series’ release, along with the Producer Price Index (PPI), “and will be discontinued thereafter”. The base-revision notice adds: “The transition from WPI to PPI is in alignment with the global best practices adopted by advanced economies and the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”
Provisional and Final
Provisional indices for a month are released on the 14th of the following month, or on the next working day if the 14th is not one. The final index for a month comes two releases later: this release, for September data, finalised July, and the release for July data finalised May. This release carried two kinds of numbers:
| Month | Status in this release | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | provisional, weighted response rate 83.4% | first estimate: 11.39% |
| August 2026 | still provisional | 9.92%, as first released |
| July 2026 | final, weighted response rate 98.97% | headline confirmed at 9.78% (index 110.0); group rates adjusted slightly, Primary Articles 8.52% to 8.61%, Fuel and Power 20.05% to 19.82% |
Earlier final figures moved more: April from 8.26% to 8.36%, May from 9.68% to 9.88%, June from 9.87% to 9.97%. So September’s 11.39% is a provisional estimate and may change. Our report on the July print carried June’s provisional 9.87%; the final is 9.97%.
The release for October 2026 is scheduled for Monday, 16 November 2026. If the pattern holds, it will also carry August’s final figure.
How to Read This Print
- Say “provisional”. September was compiled on an 83.4% weighted response rate. The April, May and June finals came in 0.1 to 0.2 points above their provisional figures; July’s did not move.
- Say “wholesale”, never “retail”. 11.39% is WPI inflation; retail inflation is the CPI’s 5.54%.
- Do not chain the series. The 2022-23 index cannot be set beside 2011-12 numbers without the linking factor and the release’s own caution.
- Weights decide the headline. A steep rate in a small sub-group moves the index less than a modest rate in Manufactured Products.
UPSC Relevance
GS Paper 3: Indian economy, inflation and its measurement, price indices, the statistical system and the inflation-targeting framework.
Prelims: WPI compiled by the OEA, DPIIT (not MoSPI); base 2022-23; three major groups and their weights; crude oil now in Fuel and Power; WPI Food Index weight 24.99%; provisional release on the 14th; transition from WPI to PPI.
Mains: the wholesale-retail gap and what it can and cannot tell policymakers; why India is moving from a wholesale price index to producer price indices; the uses of WPI in contracts and of CPI in monetary policy.
📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia
Prelims, statement-ready facts:
- WPI inflation, September 2026: 11.39% (provisional), up from 9.92% in August; index 112.5.
- Major groups, September 2026: Primary Articles 8.67%, Fuel and Power 25.85%, Manufactured Products 9.76%.
- Weights (2022-23 series): Manufactured Products 63.13, Primary Articles 22.76, Fuel and Power 14.11.
- WPI Food Index = Food Articles + Manufacture of Food Products; weight 24.99%; 8.66% in September 2026.
- July 2026 final: 9.78%, unchanged from provisional; weighted response rate 98.97%.
- Compiler: Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- New series: base 2022-23; items up from 697 to 957; weights on Gross Value of Output.
- Release day: provisional WPI on the 14th of the next month, or the next working day.
Prelims, the traps:
- WPI is not compiled by MoSPI. The OEA in DPIIT compiles it; MoSPI compiles the CPI.
- Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas is in Fuel and Power in the 2022-23 series, not in Primary Articles.
- Fuel and Power’s highest rate from April to September 2026 was May’s 30.80%, not September’s 25.85%.
- 11.39% is wholesale inflation and provisional. Retail (CPI) inflation was 5.54%.
Mains, arguments and keywords:
- Wholesale-retail gap: 5.85 points in September 2026 (11.39% vs 5.54%), up from 5.09 in August.
- Producer Price Index: WPI to be released for five years from June 2026 alongside PPI, then discontinued.
- Base revision, linking factor, Targeted Mean Imputation, price escalation clauses, provisional and final estimates.
Interview, be ready for:
- “Wholesale inflation is twice retail inflation. Which number should worry a household, and which a manufacturer?”
Revision Flowchart
WPI Inflation, September 2026: 11.39% on the 2022-23 Base
Covers the terms, Prelims pointers and traps, Mains pointers, what to watch next and a practice question.
Sources: PIB, “Provisional Wholesale Price Index, Output Producer Price Index, and Trial Input Producer Price Index for the month of September 2026, and Final Index for the month of July 2026”, 14 October 2026; PIB, “Press Release on New Series of Wholesale Price Index, and Producer Price Indices with Base Year 2022-23”, June 2026; PIB, “Base Year of Wholesale Price Index Revised from 2011-12 to 2022-23”, June 2026; PIB, WPI release for July 2026, August 2026; PIB (MoSPI), “Press Release of Consumer Price Index on Base 2024=100 for September, 2026”, 12 October 2026; RBI, “Inflation Targeting in India: The Past, The Present and The Future”, speech by Deputy Governor Poonam Gupta, May 2026
Source: WPI Inflation September 2026: 11.39% on the 2022-23 Base — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs
