India's wholesale price inflation accelerated unexpectedly in April, largely driven by a surge in prices for fuel and power, data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry revealed on Tuesday.
The wholesale price index climbed 15.08 percent year-over-year in April, faster than the 14.55 percent rise in March. Economists had expected inflation to ease marginally to 14.48 percent.
The upward trend in inflation was mainly due to a 38.66 percent spike in fuel and power prices.
Prices for primary articles registered an annual increase of 15.45 percent and those of manufactured products gained 10.85 percent.
Food prices alone grew 8.35 percent in April from last year, of which vegetable prices grew the most by 23.74 percent. Costs for non-food articles showed a double-digit growth of 23.81 percent.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 2.08 percent in April, following a 2.41 percent rise in March.
Data released last week showed that consumer price inflation rose to an 8-year high of 7.79 percent in April from 6.95 percent in March.
