Image Source : FILE India’s retail inflation sees a decline.
In a significant relief for consumers, India’s retail inflation eased to 4.31% in January which marked a sharp decline from 5.22% in December, according to government data released on Monday.
The drop in inflation is primarily attributed to lower food prices and stable core inflation, offering a positive outlook for household budgets. This marks the lowest retail inflation rate in the past four months, bringing it closer to the Reserve Bank of India’s targeted comfort zone of 4%.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 5.22 per cent in December, and 5.1 per cent in January 2024. The inflation in the food basket was 6.02 per cent, lower than 8.39 per cent in December and 8.3 per cent in the year-ago month. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been asked to ensure retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
Industrial output growth slows to 3-month low
Meanwhile, India’s industrial production growth slowed to a three-month low of 3.2 per cent in December 2024, mainly due to poor performance of mining and manufacturing sectors, according to official data released on Wednesday. The government has also revised the November 2024 industrial output figure to 5 per cent from the provisional estimate of 5.2 per cent released in the previous month.
The pace of factory output growth stood at the same level of 3.2 per cent in September and flat in August 2024. The growth was recorded at 3.7 per cent in October 2024. The country’s factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed a growth of 4.4 per cent in December 2023. India’s Index of Industrial Production increased by 3.2 per cent in December 2024, an official statement said.
The data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the manufacturing sector’s output grew 3 per cent in December 2024, down from 4.6 per cent in the year-ago month. Mining production growth declined to 2.6 per cent from 5.2 per cent year-on-year. Power output increased to 6.2 per cent in December 2024 from 1.2 per cent a year ago.
(With PTI inputs)
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