Lok Sabha Question No. 3193 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-20
Subject: Rise in Inflation Rate
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Vijayakumar (alias) Vijay Vasanth

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3193 DUE FOR ANSWERED ON 20.03.2023

## RISE IN INFLATION RATE

3193. SHRI VIJAYAKUMAR ( ALIAS ) VIJAY VASANTH:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of retail and wholesale inflation rate in the country at present;
- (b) whether  these  inflation  rates  have  been  hovering  high  during  the  last  few years in the country and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  Indian  economy  is  gripped  by unprecedented  inflation  resulting  from  the  rise  in  the  prices  of  petroleum products, food and manufactured articles and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (d) whether the Government has formulated any strategy to check the price rise and to contain inflation rate and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the outcome of the Jaipur meet about inflation and if so, details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

- (a) & (b): Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index-Combined (CPI-C) was 6.44  per  cent,  and  wholesale  price-based  inflation  rate  was  3.85  per  cent  in February 2023. Details of retail and wholesale inflation in the last few years are given below.

| Financial Year            |   CPI-C Inflation (%) |   Wholesale Price Inflation (%) |
|---------------------------|-----------------------|---------------------------------|
| 2018-19                   |                  3.41 |                            4.26 |
| 2019-20                   |                  4.77 |                            1.68 |
| 2020-21                   |                  6.16 |                            1.29 |
| 2021-22                   |                  5.51 |                           13    |
| 2022-23 (April- February) |                  6.75 |                           10.34 |

Source: MOSPI and DPIIT

Note: Data for January & February 2023 for WPI and February 2023 for CPI-C are provisional.

(c) & (d): WPI-based inflation rate of petroleum products, food and manufactured articles declined significantly from April 2022 to February 2023. Wholesale pricebased  inflation  rate  (per  cent)  for  petroleum  products,  food  and  manufactured articles are given in Table below:

| Month   |   Food articles |   Petrol |   High Speed Diesel |   Manufactured Products |
|---------|-----------------|----------|---------------------|-------------------------|
| Apr-22  |             8.5 |     60.6 |                67.6 |                    11.4 |
| May-22  |            11.8 |     71.1 |                92   |                    10.3 |
| Jun-22  |            13.7 |     75.4 |                81.3 |                     9.3 |
| Jul-22  |            10.8 |     55.3 |                72.4 |                     8.2 |
| Aug-22  |            12.6 |     38.7 |                61.3 |                     7.5 |
| Sep-22  |            11   |     40.4 |                66   |                     6.1 |
| Oct-22  |             8.4 |     25   |                43.1 |                     4.4 |
| Nov-22  |             1.5 |     14.1 |                42.1 |                     3.4 |
| Dec-22  |            -1   |     16.8 |                35.5 |                     3.4 |
| Jan-23  |             2.4 |     15.5 |                28.5 |                     3   |
| Feb-23  |             3.8 |     15.2 |                24.6 |                     1.9 |

Source: DPIIT

Note: Data for January & February 2023 are provisional.

The price situation of essential commodities is monitored by the Government on a regular basis and corrective action is taken from time to time. Several supply-side measures have been taken by the Government to address inflation and to ensure that  the  poor  do  not  have  to  bear  the  extra  financial  burden.  These  steps, inter alia, include reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel, prohibition of export of wheat  products  under  HS  Code  1101,  imposition  of  export  duty  on  rice, maintenance  of  buffer  stock  for  onion  and  pulses,  imposition  of  stock  limits  on edible  oils  and  oil  seeds,  monitoring  of  stocks  declared  by  entities  to  prevent hoarding and also requisite changes in trade policy instruments.

(e): No official information available on 'Jaipur meet about inflation'.