Daijiworld Media Network- New Delhi
New Delhi, Feb 13: India’s retail inflation dropped to a five-month low of 4.31% in January, driven by declining prices of vegetables, eggs, cereals, and pulses, according to data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation. The inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 5.22% in December 2024 and 5.1% in January 2024.
Retail inflation has been on a steady decline since October, with the last lowest figure recorded in August 2024 at 3.65%. In the months leading up to January, inflation stood at 5.48% in November, 6.21% in October, and 5.49% in September.
The data also showed that rural inflation was higher at 4.64%, while urban inflation stood at 3.87%.
Food inflation witnessed a sharp drop of 237 basis points, coming down to 6.02% in January from 8.39% in December 2024. In the previous months, it was recorded at 9.04% in November, 10.87% in October, 9.24% in September, and 5.66% in August.
Food inflation was slightly higher in rural areas at 6.31%, compared to 5.53% in urban areas.
The highest year-on-year inflation was recorded in:
?? Coconut oil – 54.20%
?? Potato – 49.61%
?? Coconut – 38.71%
?? Garlic – 30.65%
?? Peas – 30.17%
Meanwhile, items that saw the highest decline in inflation were:
?? Jeera (Cumin) – (-32.25%)
?? Ginger – (-30.92%)
?? Dry Chilly – (-11.27%)
?? Brinjal – (-9.94%)
?? LPG (excluding conveyance) – (-9.29%)
Among states, the top five with inflation rates higher than the national average in January were:
? Kerala – 6.76%
? Odisha – 6.05%
? Chhattisgarh – 5.85%
? Haryana – 5.1%
? Bihar – 5.06%
Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a 25-basis-point rate cut, marking its first reduction in five years. The move aims to boost economic growth amid stabilizing inflation levels.
Meanwhile, India’s industrial production growth, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed to 3.2% in December 2024, down from 5.2% in November. The decline was attributed mainly to a slowdown in the manufacturing sector.