Retail inflation eased to 3.31% in October from 3.7% in September, government data released on Monday showed. Consumer Price Inflation stood at 3.58% in October the previous year.
In rural areas, retail inflation was 2.82% in October. In urban areas, this figure stood at 3.97%. However, Consumer Food Price Inflation was negative in both rural and urban areas, at -0.57% and -1.15% in October, with the combined decrease in prices at 0.86%.
Fuel prices rose by as much as 8.55%, those of health products and services by 7.92%, and transport and communication by 7.72%. On the other hand, the prices of pulses declined by 10.28% in October, vegetables by 8.06%, and sugar and confectionery by 7.64%.
Industrial production
India’s industrial output grew by 4.5% in September compared to the corresponding month in 2017, a government press release said on Monday. The cumulative growth rate for the April-September period stood at 5.1%. Indian industry had grown at 4.7% in August.
The mining sector grew at 0.2% in September, the manufacturing sector at 4.6% and electricity at 8.2%. Over the April-September period, the cumulative growth of these three sectors was 3.3%, 5.3% and 6.2%.
As many as 17 out of 23 industry groups showed positive growth in September, the press release said. The group “manufacture of furniture” showed the highest positive growth at 32.8%, followed by “manufacture of wearing apparel” at 20.9%.
On the other hand, the industry group “printing and reproduction of recorded media” showed the highest negative growth rate of -12.9%. “Other manufacturing” declined by 10.7%, and “manufacture of tobacco products” by 7.3%.
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