Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) jumped to its highest level in four months at 14.55 per cent in March against 13.11 per cent in February and 7.89 per cent in March 2021.

WPI inflation has remained in the double digit for the 12th consecutive month starting April 2021. The previous highest was in November.

“The high rate of inflation in March is primarily due to a rise in the prices of crude petroleum and natural gas, mineral oils and basic metals, owing to a disruption in the global supply chain caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” the government said in a release.

Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda, said: “Inflation for fuel and manufactured products have remained elevated all through the year partly due to the base effect as well as producers regaining their pricing power post the lockdown where they were perforce compelled to hold on to their prices.”

“With the war unleashing another round of price increases of commodities, we may expect producers to further increase their final prices in case there is no letdown in the cost spiral,” Sabnavis said.

The food articles segment witnessed a rise of 8.06 per cent in March against 8.19 per cent in February, with the falling inflation attributed to vegetables. Prices of potato climbed 24.62 per cent while onions slipped (-)9.33 per cent.

The prices of fruits witnessed a spike of 10.62 per cent last month from 10.30 per cent in February, while that of wheat rose 14.04 per cent from 11.03 per cent a month ago.

The fuel and power segment spiked 34.52 per cent from 31.50 per cent in February. Petrol prices rose 53.44 per cent, HSD (High-Speed Diesel) gained 52.22 per cent and LPG prices inched up 24.88 per cent. Inflation in crude petroleum spiked to 83.56 per cent in March, from 55.17 per cent during February.

Aditi Nayar, chief economist, Icra said “The jump in crude oil prices was the biggest contributor to the rise in WPI inflation in March 2022 relative to the previous month, followed by fuel and core items. We expect the WPI inflation to remain in the range of 13.5-15 per cent in the current month, partly depending on where crude oil prices settle in the rest of April 2022 and how much petrol and diesel prices are revised further. "The broad-based nature of the rise in the WPI inflation is likely to be of particular concern to the MPC (monetary policy committee). We see a growing probability of the first repo hike being brought forward to June 2022,” she added.

The manufactured products segment rose 10.71 per cent in March, up from 9.84 per cent in the previous month.

Retail inflation spiked to 6.95 per cent in March — the third consecutive month that the consumer price index has breached the RBI's tolerance limit of 6 per cent, data released last week showed.