India's CPI Inflation at 2.75% in Jan Under New 2024 Base Year

Corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban are 2.73% and 2.77%, respectively, it said.

Under the new arrangement, the base year has been revised from 2012 to 2024 using Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24.

Further, now there are 12 Divisions in place of 6 Groups in accordance to Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) 2018.

The new additions also comprise of rural housing, online media service provider/streaming services, value added dairy products, barley & its product, pen-drive and external hard disk, attendant, babysitter and exercise equipment.

The year-on-year inflation rate based on All India Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for the month of January is recorded at 2.13% (Provisional).

Corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban are 1.96% and 2.44%, respectively.

The year-on-year Housing inflation rate for the month of January is recorded at 2.05% (Provisional) and the corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban are 2.39% and 1.92%, respectively.

For the first-time, the data includes rural house rent for improving coverage of rural housing consumption.

The year-on-year inflation rate based on All India Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for the month of January is 2.13% (Provisional). Corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban are 1.96% and 2.44%, respectively.

The CPI series with base year 2024 has been introduced to ensure that the index remains representative of current household consumption patterns, price structures, and the evolving nature of the Indian economy, MoSPI said.

The previous CPI series with base 2012 served as a stable and reliable measure for more than a decade; however, during this period, significant structural changes have occurred in consumption behaviour, income levels, urbanisation, expansion of the services sector, and digitalization, it added.

Earlier, while speaking with ANI, MoSPI Secretary Saurabh Garg had said the revision of base years for key economic indicators such as GDP, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is expected to significantly improve the quality and usability of data for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications.

Garg had said these indicators are critical inputs for institutions that project future economic growth, while the government continues to publish actual growth rates for current and past years.

"It is extremely important to update base years because the structure of the economy changes over time, new data sources become available, and methodologies of data collection also evolve," he said.

The government had constituted an Expert Group on Base Revision of CPI with representation from the Reserve Bank of India, academia, line Ministries, and statistical experts.

- ANI