New Delhi, Oct. 15 -- India's wholesale inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 11.4% in September, up from 9.9% in August, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. September inflation was the highest in the new WPI series, which has 2022-23 as its base year. While part of the double-digit inflation in September can be attributed to an unfavourable base effect, that effect is limited to primary articles, particularly food. The other two major categories - fuel and power; and manufactured products - also recorded an uptick in inflation compared to August. Among the three major categories, inflation was highest in fuel and power, driven by the war in West Asia. Inflation in this category stood at 25.9% in September, up 2.9 percentage points from August. Mineral oils - which include fuels such as petrol, diesel, and LPG and make up more than half of the fuel and power category's 14% weight in WPI - recorded a 40% inflation, up from 38.5% in August. Inflation in manufactured products and primary articles rose from 8.4% and 7.8% in August to 9.8% and 8.7% in September, respectively. Manufactured products have a 63% weight in the WPI, while primary articles have a weight of 23%. While hostilities in West Asia continue to keep mineral oil inflation high, the contribution of primary food articles to inflation is now increasing compared with the early months of the war. Mineral oils, which have an 8.2% weight in the WPI, accounted for 29% of WPI growth since the beginning of the war in February, compared with 20% of the growth since July. By contrast, primary food articles, which have a 16% weight, accounted for 15.5% of WPI growth since February, compared with 25.6% of the growth since July. Some of this acceleration is also attributable to the sharper contraction in food prices between April and October last year. The contribution of crude petroleum and natural gas has also increased since July and remains above its weight of 0.7%, while that of manufactured food products remains below its weight of 9%. Within manufactured products, September inflation was highest in the manufacture of other products (19.2%), basic metals (17%), chemicals and chemical products (16.7%), textiles (13.9%), and rubber and plastic products (13.5%). Data on the Output Producer Price Index (PPI), released alongside the WPI data, showed similar trends. Output PPI, which measures prices received by producers after excluding net taxes and trade and transport margins, recorded inflation of 11.4% in September, up from 9.8% in August. Among the four major categories of the output price index-agriculture, forestry and fishing; mining and quarrying; manufacturing products; and electricity-the highest inflation was recorded in mining and quarrying, at 21.3%. However, this category has a weight of just 3.4%. Manufactured products, which have a weight of 69.9%, recorded inflation of 12.6%, up 1.6 percentage points from August. Manufacture of petroleum products, where inflation rose 1.7 percentage points to 40%, contributed to the uptick in manufacturing inflation. Agriculture, forestry and fishing recorded inflation of 8.5%, up from 7.3% in August. The increase in this category was driven by agriculture, where inflation rose 2.5 percentage points to 9.4%. The trial Input PPI, which currently tracks prices paid only by manufacturing industries, grew by 1.2% month on month in September, compared with a contraction of 2.6% in August. Annual inflation cannot be calculated from this index because index numbers are available only from March 2026. "Looking ahead, the inflation outlook remains vulnerable to geopolitical and weather-related risks. Uncertainty surrounding key shipping routes and attacks on energy infrastructure continue to keep energy prices volatile. On the domestic front, a deficient monsoon poses risks to agricultural production," said Rajani Sinha, chief economist at CareEdge Ratings. "The government may resort to supply-side interventions to contain food inflation," she added....