India’s retail inflation logs 3.34% in March 2025, nearly 6-year low

India’s retail inflation declined marginally to three.34% in March, reaching its lowest stage in nearly six years, pushed by falling costs of greens and protein-rich meals objects. Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation was 3.61% in February and considerably larger at 4.85% in March final 12 months.
The newest figures mark the bottom retail inflation fee since August 2019, when it stood at 3.28%.
Food inflation, a key part of the CPI, additionally eased to 2.69% in March from 3.75% in February. In comparability, meals inflation was 8.52% in March 2024.
The prime 5 objects recording the best year-on-year inflation on the All-India stage in March 2025 had been coconut oil (56.81%), coconut (42.05%), gold (34.09%), silver (31.57%), and grapes (25.55%), as per Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation launch. On the opposite hand, the objects with the bottom year-on-year inflation in March 2025 had been ginger (-38.11%), tomato (-34.96%), cauliflower (-25.99%), jeera (-25.86%), and garlic (-25.22%).
According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), a notable decline in each headline and meals inflation was noticed in the agricultural sector throughout March 2025. Provisional information exhibits rural headline inflation fell to three.25% in March, down from 3.79% in February.
Food inflation based mostly on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) in rural areas additionally noticed a pointy lower, dropping to 2.82% in March from 4.06% in the earlier month.
In distinction, city areas witnessed a marginal uptick in headline inflation, rising to three.43% in March 2025 (provisional), in comparison with 3.32% in February. Despite this, meals inflation in city areas declined considerably, easing to 2.48% in March from 3.15% in February, MOSPI information confirmed.
The decline in inflation comes shortly after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduce the repo fee by 25 foundation factors, citing softening value pressures.
For the continued fiscal 12 months 2025-26, the RBI has projected common CPI inflation at 4%. The quarterly breakdown stands at 3.6% for Q1, 3.9% for Q2, 3.8% for Q3, and 4.4% for This autumn, with dangers said to be evenly balanced.
In parallel, wholesale value inflation additionally noticed a decline, falling to a six-month low of two.05% in March, in response to authorities information launched on Tuesday. The moderation was largely attributed to diminished costs of greens, potatoes, and different important meals objects.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was recorded at 2.38% in February and simply 0.26% in March 2024.