New Delhi: The wholesale price-based inflation shot up to over 8-year high of 7.39 per cent in March on rising crude oil and metal prices.
Also, the low base of March last year, when the data was computed with a low response rate due to the nationwide lockdown, contributed to the spike in inflation in March 2021.
The WPI inflation was 4.17 per cent in February 2021 and 0.42 per cent in March 2020.
This is the third straight month of up-tick seen in the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation.
“The annual rate of inflation stood at 7.39 per cent (provisional) for the month of March 2021 over March 2020,” the Commerce and Industry Ministry said.
Such a high level of WPI was last recorded in October 2012, when inflation was 7.4 per cent.
Inflation in food articles in March was 3.24 per cent as prices of pulses, fruits and paddy hardened.

Press Trust of India