India's wholesale price inflation eased for the third straight month in August, and at a faster-than-expected pace, provisional data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry revealed on Wednesday.
The wholesale price index climbed 12.41 percent year-over-year in August, following a 13.93 rise in July. Economists had expected inflation to ease to 13.0 percent.
The overall inflation was primarily driven by a 33.67 percent surge in fuel and power prices, but slower than the 43.75 percent jump in July.
Prices for primary articles grew 14.93 percent and those for manufactured products gained 7.51 percent.
Meanwhile, inflation based on food prices rose slightly to 9.93 percent in August from 9.41 percent in July, and costs for non-food articles logged an annual growth of 8.42 percent.
On a monthly basis, wholesale prices dropped 0.46 percent in August, after a 1.03 percent decline in the prior month. This was the second successive monthly fall.
Data released on Monday showed that consumer price inflation rose to 7.00 percent in August from 6.71 percent in July.
