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New CPI Markets Skewed: UP & Maharashtra Grab 43% of Additions, Says SBI

A State Bank of India report highlights a geographical skew in the new Consumer Price Index framework, with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra accounting for 43% of the 565 newly added markets. The CPI 2024 series has expanded its basket to 358 items, adding modern goods and services like online streaming while removing obsolete ones. It also incorporates 12 online markets in major cities to track e-commerce prices, though the city selection based on the 2011 census excludes some fast-growing urban centers. Under the new series, core inflation for January 2026 is calculated at 3.4%, lower than the old series, partly due to a reduced weight for gold.

Key Points: CPI Market Additions Skewed to UP, Maharashtra: SBI Report

  • 43% of new CPI markets in UP & Maharashtra
  • 565 total new markets added
  • New items include streaming services & rural housing
  • Core inflation lower in new series due to gold weight change
3 min read

CPI new method market additions skewed towards few states, UP, Maharashtra accounts for 43% of new markets: SBI Report

SBI report reveals 43% of new CPI markets are in UP & Maharashtra, showing geographical skew. New items added, obsolete ones removed.

"This indicate that inclusion of new markets is quite skewed and tilted more towards certain states - SBI Report"

New Delhi, February 13

Consumer Price Index new method market additions for the calculation of the inflation data skewed towards few states as UP, Maharashtra accounts for 43 per cent of new markets, stated a report by SBI.

The report noted that the CPI 2024 has increased its coverage both geographically and in terms of number of items. Overall, 565 more markets, both rural and urban, have been included in CPI-2024 as compared to CPI-2012.

However, out of these 565 new markets, only two states, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, accounted for 43 per cent share.

The report said "This indicate that inclusion of new markets is quite skewed and tilted more towards certain states".

Apart from the expansion in markets, the number of weighted items has also increased in the new series. The total number of weighted items in the 2024 series stands at 358, compared to 299 in the earlier series. Among these, goods have increased from 259 to 314, while services have risen from 40 to 50 items.

New additions to the CPI basket include Rural housing, Online media service provider/Streaming services, Value added dairy products, Barley & its product, Pendrive & External Hard disk, Attendant, Babysitter and Exercise equipment.

At the same time, items such as VCR/VCD/DVD player and hiring charges, Radio, Tape recorder, Clothing second-hand, CD/DVD audio/video cassettes and Coir/rope have been removed as they have become obsolete.

Further, 12 online markets have been added across 12 towns having more than 25 lakh population as per the 2011 census. These include Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow and Kanpur. The addition aims to capture price variations of items on e-commerce and online platforms on a weekly basis.

However, as the 2011 census was used for selecting cities, some growing cities such as Indore, Patna, Nagpur, Bhopal and Thane are missing from the list, even though they are close to becoming 25-lakh population cities.

On the inflation front, India's CPI inflation rose to 2.75 per cent in January 2026, compared to 2.55 per cent in the old series using the linking factor (0.5267). Rural inflation stood at 2.73 per cent, while urban inflation was at 2.77 per cent. Food inflation was recorded at 2.13 per cent.

The core CPI under the new series stood at 3.4 per cent in January 2026, compared to around 4.15 per cent under the old series in January 2026.

The decline in core inflation is mainly due to the change in weightage of gold, which declined to 0.62 per cent in the 2024 series from 1.08 per cent in the 2012 series.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

S
Shreya B
Good to see new items like online streaming and value-added dairy products! 🎬 It reflects how our consumption has changed. But the report is right, the market selection seems biased. They used 2011 census data? That's 15 years old! No wonder cities like Indore and Patna are missing.
A
Aman W
While I appreciate the effort to modernize the CPI basket, the geographical concentration is worrying. Inflation in Lucknow or Mumbai is very different from inflation in Guwahati or Bhubaneswar. This could lead to policy decisions that don't help everyone equally.
P
Priya S
Finally, they added rural housing! This is a major expense for crores of families. But the skew towards two states undermines the whole update. SBI report has done a good job pointing this out. Hope the authorities take note and make it more balanced.
D
David E
Interesting analysis. The addition of online markets is a smart move to capture digital economy prices. However, the population threshold using 2011 data is a clear oversight. India's urban landscape has changed dramatically since then. The data needs to be dynamic.
K
Karthik V
The core inflation going down because gold's weightage is reduced is a big deal. Makes the numbers look better. But if the market data itself is from limited geographies, can we even trust this new "lower" core inflation figure? Feels like window dressing.

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