India’s retail inflation rose to 5.54% in September from 4.83% in August, while food inflation increased to 7.74% from 5.97%, according to provisional Consumer Price Index data released on Monday.
The CPI series, with 2024 as its base year, showed rural inflation at 6.08%, compared with 5.24% in August. Urban inflation rose to 4.88% from 4.31%.
Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index, stood at 8.06% in rural areas and 7.18% in urban areas, up from 6.17% and 5.64%, respectively, in August.
The combined CPI index increased to 109.49 in September from 108.74 in August, while the combined food price index rose to 112.17 from 110.73. September’s figures are provisional, while August’s figures are final.
Among individual items, onion prices recorded year-on-year inflation of 108.09%, compared with 48.78% in August. Silver jewellery inflation stood at 87.80%, down from 106.81%, while ginger inflation eased to 62.85% from 73.82%.
Garlic inflation increased to 54.62% from 43.60%, and lemon inflation rose to 36.41% from 15.15%.
Several items remained cheaper than a year earlier. Potato prices declined 11.50% year-on-year, tomatoes 8.62%, motor cars and jeeps 4.51%, lady’s finger 4.48% and coconut 3.99%.
In August, the corresponding declines were 13.15% for potatoes, 31.09% for tomatoes, 6.73% for motor cars and jeeps, 5.41% for lady’s finger and 3% for coconut.
Across expenditure divisions, inflation in personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services stood at 13.75%. Restaurants and accommodation services recorded inflation of 9.36%, followed by food and beverages at 7.36% and transport at 5.01%.
Inflation was 4.80% for paan, tobacco and intoxicants, 3.94% for education services, 3.93% for clothing and footwear, and 3.11% for furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels recorded inflation of 2.74%.
Information and communication inflation stood at 2.44%, recreation, sport and culture at 2.16%, and health at 1.40%.
Among detailed expenditure groups, other personal effects recorded inflation of 38.69%, while goods transport services registered 14.73%. Food and beverage serving services recorded 9.39%, paan and tobacco 7.55%, and the operation of personal transport equipment 7.46%.
Vehicle purchase prices declined 2.56% year-on-year, while recreational durables fell 0.85%.
Among states with populations exceeding 50 lakh according to Census 2011, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest headline inflation at 6.81%, followed by Odisha at 6.70%, Madhya Pradesh at 6.68%, Telangana at 6.64% and Andhra Pradesh at 6.29%.
Across all states and Union Territories, Puducherry recorded inflation of 6.86%. Mizoram registered 2.85%, Nagaland 3.22% and Delhi 3.40%.
The monthly series showed retail inflation rising from 2.74% in January to 3.21% in February, 3.40% in March, 3.48% in April and 3.93% in May. It increased further to 4.38% in June, 4.45% in July and 4.83% in August before reaching 5.54% in September.
Prices were collected from 1,407 urban markets, including online markets, and 1,465 villages across states and Union Territories through field visits on a weekly roster. The National Statistical Office reported a 100% response rate in both rural and urban markets during September.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) cautioned that some state-level item indices should be interpreted carefully because they were compiled using limited samples of price quotations.
State- and item-wise data are available on MoSPI’s eSankhyiki portal. October’s CPI figures are scheduled for release on November 12, or the next working day if that date is a holiday.
