India's wholesale prices declined for the third successive month in June and at a faster-than-expected pace, provisional data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry revealed on Friday.
The wholesale price index, or WPI, dropped 4.12 percent year-over-year in June, faster than the 3.48 percent decrease in May. Economists had expected a 3.6 percent fall.
The downward trend in inflation was primarily due to the fall in prices of mineral oils, food products, basic metals, crude petroleum and natural gas, and textiles, the ministry said.
Food prices fell at a slower pace of 1.24 percent annually in June versus a 1.59 percent decrease in the prior month.
Costs for fuel and other costs plunged 12.63 percent, and those for primary articles dropped 2.87 percent.
On a monthly basis, wholesale prices were down 0.40 percent after falling 0.99 percent in May.
Data released earlier this week showed that India's consumer price inflation accelerated somewhat to 4.81 percent in June from a 25-month low of 4.31 percent in May.
Inflation remained within the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance band of 2-6 percent for the fourth month in a row, although still above the medium-term target of 4.0 percent.
