Consumer price index inflation for January 2026 rose to 2.75% and food price inflation to 2.13%. Estimates for the new base year of 2024 are a break from the previous 2012 series.

In addition to the base year revision, the methodology and data sources for compiling retail inflation for the new series have also been updated and reflect the changed consumption pattern based on the Survey of Household Consumption Expenditure 2023-24.

For starters, the weight of the food and drink basket has dropped in the new series. In the IPC 2024 series, food and beverages have a weight of 36.75. Extrapolating from the 2012 series, which gave food and drink a weight of 45.86% in the global CPI inflation basket, the 2024 weight in the category would be 40.1%.

Meanwhile, in the 2024 series, housing has been expanded and the revised basket includes housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.

Expanded basket

The categories or baskets in the new CPI inflation series have also expanded to 12 from six in the previous series, with the Miscellaneous category giving way to more granular categories of furniture, household equipment and routine household maintenance; health, transport, information and communication, leisure, sport and culture, educational services, catering and accommodation services, personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services.

New additions to the item baskets include rural housing, online media service provider, streaming services, value-added dairy products, barley and its products, pen drives and external hard drives, assistants, babysitters and exercise equipment. Obsolete items including VCR, VCD, DVD player and rental charges, radio, tape recorder, second-hand clothes, CD/DVD audio, video cassettes and rope/cocoon have also been removed, an official statement said.

Overall, in the 2024 series, prices would be tracked for up to 308 goods and 50 services, compared to 259 goods and 40 services in the 2014 series. Price data will be captured from more markets: 1,465 rural markets, 1,395 urban markets and 434 cities in the new series, compared to 1,181 rural markets, 1,114 urban markets and 310 cities of the old series.

In addition, 12 online marketplaces will be monitored weekly for prices in major cities with a population of over 25 lakh to capture price movement on e-commerce platforms.

Latest economic transformations captured

Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran pointed out that the economy has undergone a major transformation in the last decade, which will now be reflected in the changes in the new CPI series.

“Since the basket is aligned with recent spending data, inflation signals will match prevailing economic conditions,” he told reporters, adding that this would improve the information base for calibrating monetary and fiscal policy.

Responding to a question on core inflation, Saurabh Garg, secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, said the Reserve Bank of India will decide what elements to include in calculating core inflation.

MOSPI also plans to conduct the next HCES in 2027-28, which will be the basis for the next CPI inflation series, he said. The ministry hopes to review the base year every five years, he said.

Experts noted that the new retail inflation series has a similar trajectory to the old series. “The difference in mother’s CPI inflation between the 2024 and 2012 base year series from February 2025 to December 2025 ranges from negative 16 bp to negative 34 bp and averaged 0.2 bp over 11 months. This points to a similar inflationary trajectory in the 2024 series to that of the 2024,” said the Associate Director of India Ranking 201. Research.

Madhavi Arora, chief economist at Emkay Global Financial Services, said the agency does not expect the new run of inflation to materially influence policy in the near term. “A prolonged pause in rates appears likely, supported by a cyclical pick-up in both growth and inflation and an improvement in confidence following the conclusion of US-India trade negotiations,” he said.