Retail inflation shoots to 6.95% in March 2022

The industrial output rose 1.7% in February 2022, as per the National Statistical Office

Retail inflation shot up to 6.95% in March 2022, the third month in a row above the 6% mark, with food price inflation faced by consumers hitting 7.68% from 5.85% in February.

Consumers in rural India faced a higher inflation than urban citizens, with overall rural inflation rising 7.66% and the rural food price index jumping past 8% to hit 8.04% in March from 5.81% in February.

Among the States, West Bengal recorded the highest retail inflation at 8.85%, while Uttar Pradesh and Assam clocked 8.19% inflation, followed by Madhya Pradesh (7.89%), Telangana (7.66%), and Maharashtra (7.62%).

The inflation rate stood between 7.4% and 7.6% for several regions, including Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.

The retail inflation rate of 6.95% in March is the highest recorded in 17 months, fuelled largely by these spikes as well as producers passing on higher commodity prices and input costs to consumers. Fuel and Light inflation stood at 7.52% in March, while transport and communication touched 8%. Health costs, Household goods and services as well as Personal care and effects saw escalating inflation at 6.99%, 7.67% and 8.71%, respectively.

The industrial output rose 1.7% in February 2022, as per the National Statistical Office, up slightly from the revised estimate of 1.46% recorded in January, even as manufacturing sector output slowed further from 1.3% that month to a mere 0.8% in February.

The February numbers are relative to a low base of February 2021 when industrial production contracted 3.2%. Manufacturing had shrunk 3.4% in the same month a year ago. Mining output rose 4.5% in February 2022, from a 4.4% contraction in February 2021, while electricity generation grew 4.5% compared to a 0.1% uptick last year.