Inflation in the fuel and power basket was 10.25 % in March. The wholesale price-based inflation shot up to over 8-year high of 7.39 % in March on rising crude oil and metal prices. Also, the low base of March last year, when the data was computed with a low response rate due to the nationwide lockdown, contributed to a spike in inflation in March 2021. The WPI inflation was 4.17 % in February and 0.42 % in March 2020. This is the third straight month of up-tick seen in the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation. "The annual rate of inflation stood at 7.39 % (provisional) for the month of March 2021 over March 2020," the Commerce and Industry Ministry said.