According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the wholesale inflation rate has increased in June. It has reached 3.36 percent. Wholesale inflation is also called WPI, WPI means Wholesale Price Index. WPI has been increasing continuously for the last four months. In this article, we will not only show you the real picture of inflation, but will also tell you how much the inflation of petrol and diesel affects you, or how much impact it can have?
April 1, 2024, the first day of the Indian financial year. The average rate of tur dal was INR 149.23. Sugar was INR 44.44 per kg. One liter of mustard oil was INR 135.67, potatoes were INR 24.76 per kg, onions were INR 32.38 and tomatoes were INR 32.97 per kg. The prices you have heard were average prices. These figures are given on the website of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. Now let’s look at the average prices of July 15 on this website. Arhar dal has reached 168.75, sugar 45.03, mustard oil 140.82, potatoes 37.14 rupees per kg, onions 44.67 rupees per kg and tomatoes 68.52 rupees per kg. I hope that after seeing these figures, you will be able to see and feel the inflation and this is just a sample. Prices of many other things are also given on this website.
Now know more about this. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has also released some figures. According to them, the wholesale inflation rate has increased in June. It has reached 3.36 percent. Wholesale inflation is also called WPI, WPI means Wholesale Price Index. WPI has been increasing continuously for the last four months. It was 0.53 percent in March. In April it was 1.26 percent, in May it was 2.61 percent and now in June it is 3.36 percent. Now the question is why is wholesale inflation increasing? And the answer is that food items have become expensive. Government figures confirm that from potatoes to onions and from tomatoes to all vegetables have become expensive. All pulses have become expensive.
After wholesale inflation, let’s talk about retail inflation. Retail inflation figures were released on July 12. Retail inflation also increased in the month of June. It reached 5.08 percent. In April this figure was 4.85%. And in May retail inflation was at 4.75%. The report shows that retail inflation has increased due to the increase in food items. Food inflation rate has increased from 8.69 to 9.36%. Not just this, along with urban inflation, rural inflation is also increasing. Be it retail inflation or wholesale inflation. There is one thing common in both. Both reports confirm one thing. That is, the prices of food items are increasing. Food items are becoming expensive.
But have you ever thought why something becomes expensive and when it becomes cheap. Actually, the whole mathematics of inflation works on the formula of demand and supply. If the demand for something is very high and the supply is low, then the price of that thing will increase. On the other hand, if the supply of something is high and the demand is not very high, then the price of that thing will decrease. That is, the demand for vegetables and pulses is high but the supply is not that much. And this is the reason why the prices of these things have increased. But what happened that the supply of vegetables and pulses got affected?
One big reason is the decrease in production. But why has there been a decrease in production? Actually, for quite some time, the weather has not supported the farmers much. The weather has affected pulses and grains. For the last one year, there was El Niño situation in the country. And now the continuous rain has also affected the production. The same is more or less the condition of vegetables. The production of vegetables has also been affected a lot. After this comes the turn of supply. Supply has also been affected and the biggest reason for this is monsoon. There is heavy rain in many parts of the country.
News of landslides in hilly areas is coming out every day. A large area of the country is in the grip of rain and floods. News of roads and bridges breaking down is coming out continuously. News of waterlogging and waterlogging is coming out continuously. In such a situation, carrying food items from one place to another has become a problem. Bringing and taking trucks loaded with food on roads, highways, has become quite troublesome. Traffic jams also occur due to rain. Due to this, the consumption of petrol and diesel is more. That is, the transportation cost increases. That is, the supply has deteriorated, the transportation cost has increased, and this is affecting your and our pockets.
Another thing, if the prices of petrol and diesel increase, then also the prices of things increase and when it decreases, the prices soften. While the topic is still on, let me tell you that on 15th July, the Pakistan government has issued a new order according to which the rate of petrol there has become INR 275 per liter and the rate of high speed diesel has become INR 283 per liter. Now it is possible that very soon you will once again get to see videos of flour looting from Pakistan. Now when we are in a bad condition due to inflation, maybe we will get some relief by looking at the poor condition of Pakistan.