Consumer price inflation at 7.65 per cent in January

The annual rate of inflation based on the all India general consumer price index (CPI) stood at 7.65 per cent in January 2012 while the corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban areas were 7.38 per cent and 8.25 per cent, respectively.

The consumer price-based inflation data, which replaces the earlier wholesale price-based inflation figures, will better reflect the actual movement of prices at the micro-level.

The all-India consumer price index (general) based on retail prices for January 2012 stood at 114.0 per cent, with the corresponding indices for rural and urban consumers at 115.0 and 112.8, respectively, the new series of consumer price data released by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) showed.

Against this, inflation rate based on the wholesale price index (WPI) for January stood at 6.55 per cent as per data released earlier by the CSO (See: Wholesale price inflation down at 6.55 per cent in January).

During January 2012, vegetables were cheaper by over 24 per cent nationwide compared to the levels in January 2011. However, other food and beverages reported a rise in prices.

While 'food and beverages' reported a moderate increase in prices of 4.11 per cent year-on-year in January, fuel and light, and clothing, bedding and footwear segments, saw double-digit inflation.