Retail inflation fell to 3.69% in August, government data showed on Wednesday. It had stood at 4.17% in July.
The Consumer Price Index inflation rate for rural areas stood at 3.41% in August corresponding to the same month in 2017. For urban areas, the inflation rate was 3.99%. Food prices increased by 1.22% in rural areas and reduced by 1.21% in urban areas in August, with a combined increase of 0.29%.
Prices of fuel rose the most – by 8.47% – in August, the data showed. On the other hand, prices of pulses fell by 7.76%.
Industrial production grows by 6.6%
India’s industrial output grew by 6.6% in July compared to the same month in 2017, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed. This is lower than the 7% growth recorded in June. The cumulative growth rate over the April to July 2018 period stands at 5.4%.
The mining sector grew at 3.7%, the manufacturing sector at 7% and electricity at 6.7% in July.
As many as 20 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed positive growth in July. Among these, manufacture of furniture showed the highest growth at 42.7%. On the other hand, the group printing and reproduction of recorded media showed minus 2.7% growth.
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