Source: MoSPI / National Statistics Office — Consumer Price Index, via the eSankhyiki data platform. All-India, Rural / Urban / Combined. Two official base years: 2024=100 (headline back-cast to 2013; COICOP groups from Jan 2025) and 2012=100 (legacy series with the full food basket, to Dec 2025). Switch with the Base toggle.
Reading the numbers. "Inflation" here is the
year-on-year change in the price index — how much higher prices are than the same month a year earlier. It is not the same as prices themselves, which the index (a separate toggle) tracks. A number falling from, say, 6% to 3% means prices are still rising, just more slowly (disinflation); only a reading below zero means prices actually fell (deflation, which food items like vegetables and pulses do reach). The
RBI's 2–6% tolerance band shown behind the chart is a target for the
headline CPI-Combined only — it is not a target for Rural, Urban or any single category, so it appears only on the headline line. Headline inflation uses MoSPI's published rate; sub-group inflation is the 12-month change computed from MoSPI's published index (validated to within 0.2 points of the official rate). Recent months are provisional and revised by MoSPI. Year-on-year readings carry base effects — an unusual month a year earlier can swing the current number. Source:
MoSPI eSankhyiki.