The government will release the retail inflation data for January based on the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series on Thursday, which will also reflect price movements in airfares, e-commerce platforms and subscription rates of OTT channels.
The new series with base year 2024 will cover 358 items as compared to 299 products and services factored in the 2012 CPI series. The prices will be collected from 1,465 rural markets and 1,395 urban markets, much higher data collection points in CPI (2024=100). The last inflation number based on old series was released for December 2025.
The National Statistics Organisation (NSO) in the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation releases macroeconomic data related to retail inflation, factor production, and national accounts (GDP).
The ministry has decided on a comprehensive exercise for revision of the base year of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) to enhance their relevance, accuracy and international comparability. The new base year for the GDP and IIP is 2022-23, and for CPI the proposed base year is 2024.
The ministry said the base year revision of GDP, CPI & IIP is guided by the respective technical advisory committee/expert groups comprising experts from academia, central and state governments, and RBI, among others. “The release of the new series of GDP, CPI and IIP is scheduled for February 17, February 12 and May, respectively,” it said.
Last Friday, the Reserve Bank did not come out with inflation projection for the next fiscal year and decided to wait for the release of new CPI series. The RBI factors in the retail inflation data while framing monetary policy.
Also read: Wholesale price inflation rises to eight-month high
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