CPI Inflation

Economy wrap April 13-19: Rising fuel-led inflation, job market stress and West Asia risks cloud near-term outlook even as government attempts to sustain growth momentum

India's retail inflation rose to 3.4% in March, driven by higher food and fuel prices, with economists warning of further upside risks amid global uncertainties

Data showed rural inflation at 3.63 per cent, while urban inflation remained lower at 3.11 per cent

Economists support retaining the 4% inflation target, citing CPI alignment and the flexibility it offers RBI to manage supply shocks while sustaining growth

India's retail inflation rose to an 11-month high of 3.21% in February as food prices and precious metals gained

Core CPI, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, hit 1.8 per cent - the highest since 2019

Former chief statistician says the revised cpi was overdue, supports excluding free pds items and sees little immediate impact on rbi policy decisions

Shift to CPI 2024 base sharply lowers headline index levels in back series, but inflation rate remains identical across rural and urban segments

Food's share in CPI falls sharply in 2024 series, boosting core inflation's role; rural weight declines but remains higher than urban consumption

India's new CPI series modernises inflation measurement, reshapes RBI policy signals, and underscores the need for more market-friendly data release timings

India's new CPI series reflects changing consumption patterns, digital services and better data, marking a major step forward in measuring inflation accurately

January 2026 CPI-based inflation: The inflation remained close to the Reserve Bank of India's lower tolerance threshold

January will be the first month of a new data series based on 2024 prices and will mark the first time since August that inflation returns to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) 2% - 6% target band

The RBI's MPC held rates steady, citing improved growth and benign inflation, while announcing regulatory steps to boost credit flow and strengthen digital payment safety

The RBI's MPC unanimously kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent, retaining a neutral stance while signalling that future policy decisions will be guided by data from new GDP and CPI series

From shopping baskets to growth calculations, India is updating the base years for CPI inflation and GDP to reflect today's economy, a recalibration that will change headline numbers without altering

India's new CPI series, with lower food weight and higher core components, may nudge headline inflation higher but is expected to improve policy predictability and ease RBI's targeting

India will sharply reduce the food and beverages weight in the CPI basket as part of a 2024 base-year revamp, aiming to better capture evolving consumption patterns

Amid data and fiscal uncertainties, the govt faces the difficult task of creating conditions to boost private capex

December 2025 CPI-based inflation: The increase in headline inflation is mainly attributed to an increase in the prices of items across personal care, vegetables, meat and fish, egg, and pulses