The Office of the Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on 15 April 2026 released the Index Numbers of Wholesale Price in India for March 2026, with the base year 2011-12. The annual rate of inflation based on the All India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood at 3.88 per cent (provisional) for March 2026 over March 2025, marking a sharp acceleration from 2.13 per cent in February 2026. The month-over-month change in WPI for March 2026 was 1.64 per cent compared with February 2026. The release attributed the rise primarily to higher prices of crude petroleum and natural gas, other manufacturing, non-food articles, manufacture of basic metals and food articles, as listed in the official WPI release. In the manufacturing sub-group, the index for manufactured products rose 0.88 per cent, with 16 of 22 NIC two-digit groups recording price increases. The WPI Food Index rate of inflation remained at 1.85 per cent year-on-year, indicating that headline pressure was concentrated in fuel and industrial inputs rather than food. The provisional March 2026 WPI was compiled at a weighted response rate of 77.8 per cent, while the final figure for January 2026 reflected a response rate of 92.7 per cent. The WPI complements the Consumer Price Index released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and is widely used by policymakers, industry and the Reserve Bank of India to gauge wholesale price pressures. The April 2026 WPI release was issued on 14 May 2026; the next WPI release, for May 2026, is scheduled for 15 June 2026.