India’s annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index (WPI), stood at 2.47 per cent for the month of March 2018 over same month of last year. The index for apparel dropped by 0.9 per cent to 137.8 in March, 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 March 2018 rose by 0.2 per cent to 116.0 from previous month’s level of 115.8, the data showed. The index for manufactured products (weight 64.23 per cent) for March 2018 rose by 0.4 per cent to 115.7 from 115.2 for the previous month. The index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ sub-group declined by 0.9 per cent to 137.8 from 139.0 for the previous month due to lower price of woven apparel, except fur apparel, and knitted and crocheted apparel (1 per cent each).
