India’s retail inflation edged up to 3.40% year-on-year (YoY) in March as compared to 3.21% recorded in February.
Inflation in rural areas stood at 3.63% in March, compared to 3.11% in urban regions. The price pressures continue to remain higher in rural India, largely driven by food items.
Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), came in at 3.87% in March from 3.47% in February. Rural food inflation was higher at 3.96%, while urban food inflation stood at 3.71%.
| March | February | |
| Inflation | 3.40% | 3.21% |
| Rural Inflation | 3.63% | |
| Urban Inflation | 3.11% | |
| Food inflation | 3.87% | 3.47% |
| Rural food inflation | 3.96% | |
| Urban food inflation | 3.71%. |
Housing inflation remains moderate
Housing inflation remained relatively subdued at 2.11% in March. Rural housing inflation was recorded at 2.54%, while urban housing inflation came in lower at 1.95%, indicating stable trends in housing-related costs.
Sharp fall in vegetable prices
Several key food items saw a sharp decline in prices during the month. Onion prices dropped 27.76% year-on-year, while potato prices fell 18.98%. Garlic prices declined 10.18%, and pulses such as arhar and chickpeas also recorded negative inflation. This decline helped contain overall food inflation.
Precious metals and select items see high inflation
At the same time, prices of certain items remained elevated. Silver jewellery recorded a sharp increase of 148.61%. However it saw a decrease from 160.88% reported in Feburary.
Gold, diamond and platinum jewellery rose 45.92%.
Which state posted highest inflation?
Telangana recorded the highest inflation at 5.83%, followed by states such as Sikkim, Puducherry and Kerala. However, Chhattisgarh and NCT of Delhi were among the states that saw much lower inflation, at 1.35% and 1.86% respectively on a yearly basis.
This month inflation data was released with base year 2024. In the month of February India first switched to revised base year data. he revised series expands the inflation basket to 358 items from 299 earlier, incorporating modern consumption trends such as e-commerce prices, airfares and OTT subscriptions, while also increasing data collection points across rural and urban markets. The government will release the next set of CPI data for April 2026 on May 12, 2026.