India’s wholesale inflation slipped into negative territory in June 2025, driven by a sharp drop in food and fuel prices, according to official data released by the Commerce Ministry on Monday, July 14, 2025. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation stood at –0.13% for the month, compared to 2.59% in June 2024. This marks the first instance of deflation in 2025, offering some relief on the price front amid concerns over global commodity volatility.
The decline in WPI is primarily attributed to a fall in prices of vegetables, pulses, crude petroleum and natural gas, and electricity. The Food Index recorded a year-on-year decline of 0.26%, although it rose by 0.37% month-on-month. Among food items, vegetable prices fell sharply by 22.71%, while pulses dropped 14.11% compared to June last year.
Fuel and power prices also eased considerably. The category registered a 2.65% drop year-on-year and declined 2.52% over the previous month. Electricity prices saw a sharp fall of 9.17%, contributing significantly to the overall cooling in inflation. Crude petroleum and natural gas also saw a slight year-on-year dip of 0.63%.
Primary articles, which include both food and non-food items, registered a 3.38% annual decline, despite increasing by 0.81% month-on-month. On the other hand, manufactured products, the largest component in the WPI basket, recorded a 1.97% rise over June 2024, with only a marginal 0.07% drop from May 2025.
The overall WPI stood at 153.8 in June, slightly down from 154.1 in May. The data reflects a broad-based softening in wholesale prices, which could help ease cost pressures for producers and influence the trajectory of retail inflation in the coming months.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) primarily considers retail inflation while finalizing its monetary policy decisions, making the upcoming consumer inflation data crucial for future policy direction.
