New Delhi (India): India’s retail inflation rose to 4.91 per cent in November led by a surge in food and edible oil prices, the government data showed on Monday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation accelerated to 4.91 per cent in November from 4.48 per cent in the previous month, as per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). Despite the increase, the headline inflation remains within the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) target range of 2-6 per cent for the fifth consecutive month. The RBI has been mandated to keep retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. Though there is a rising trend in inflation in recent months, the November 2021 figure is much better than the one recorded during the corresponding period last year. CPI inflation stood at 6.93 per cent in November 2020. The price rise is sharper in the urban areas than the rural. CPI inflation in urban areas rose by 5.54 per cent in November 2021 while it stood at 4.29 per cent in rural. During October 2021 also the inflationary pressure in urban areas was higher. Urban CPI inflation stood at 5.04 per cent in October 2021 while for the rural areas it stood at 4.07 per cent. However, one year back the trend was different. During November 2021, the rural inflation was higher at 7.2 per cent as compared with 6.73 per cent for the urban. The Price data are collected from selected 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of NSO on a weekly roster. During the month of November 2021, NSO collected prices from 99.7 per cent villages and 98.4 per cent urban markets while the market-wise prices reported therein were 89.4 per cent for rural and 92.8 per cent for urban, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation. There was a sharp acceleration in food prices during the month of November. Food prices, which contribute to nearly half of the Consumer Price Index, rose 1.87 per cent year-on-year in November 2021, compared with 0.85 per cent in October 2021. Prices of edible oil surged 30 per cent. Retail fuel inflation, though remained at an elevated level, and was lower in November when compared with the previous month. Retail fuel prices rose 13.35 per cent in November year-on-year compared to 14.35 per cent in the previous month.
