India’s January Inflation 2.75% Under New Series Versus 1.33% in December Under Old Series

India’s retail inflation stood at 2.75% year on year in January 2026 under the new Consumer Price Index series with base year 2024, according to data released by the National Statistics Office. Rural inflation was 2.73%, while urban inflation was 2.77%.

The January reading under the new base is 142 basis points higher than December’s 1.33% print under the 2012-base series.

January marks the first release under the revised base year, drawing weights from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023–24.

The headline print remains below the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4%, but the central bank is likely to note the jump from January, despite change in the series. With the base effect likely to kick in later in the year, this may also lead to upward revision in the inflation forecast.

In the MPC review last week, the RBI had deferred the inflation projections for 2026-27 to April, awaiting the release of the new CPI series.

Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index, stood at 2.13% year on year in January. Rural food inflation was 1.96%, while urban food inflation came in at 2.44%.

With a lower weight assigned to food and beverages in the new series, the transmission of food price changes to headline inflation may differ from earlier trends, even though food remains the largest component of the basket. The weight of food and beverages has been reduced to 36.75% from 45.86% in the 2012-based series.

State-level data shows variation under the revised base. Kerala’s inflation eased to 3.67% in January under the new series, compared with 9.49% in December under the earlier base, reflecting the impact of updated weights and classification.

In contrast, Telangana reported inflation of 4.92% in January under the new series, against 1.77% in December under the previous base