India’s retail inflation for the month of January rose to 6.01%, breaching the upper margin of the limit of the price rise indicator as set by the Reserve Bank of India, government data showed on Monday. The central bank aims to keep retail inflation within the range of 2% to 6%.
Retail inflation during last month was the highest since June, when the numbers had risen to 6.26%. On Monday, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation also revised the retail inflation for December to 5.66%, from the earlier announced 5.59%.
The rise in inflation in January mainly came on the back of high food prices. Food inflation rose to 5.43% in January from 4.05% in December, according to government data. The inflation in costs of oils and fats increased by 18.70%, while meat and fish rose by 5.47%.
Inflation in vegetable prices increased by 5.19%, while cost of pulses rose by 3.02%. The cost of readymade meals, clothes, education, footwear and health also increased in January, the data showed.
Earlier on Monday, another set of data from the government showed that wholesale inflation had eased to 12.96% in January from 13.56% in December. The indicator of price rise in wholesale markets has now remained in double digits for ten straight months since April.
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