India's Retail Inflation at 3.65 Percent in August; Industrial Output Grows by 4.8 Percent in July

New Delhi: India’s headline retail inflation for the month of August 2024 stood at 3.65 per cent as compared to 3.6 per cent in July, while it was 6.83 per cent a year ago. This is the second lowest in the last five years, though it slightly rose in August on a month-on-month basis. India’s industrial output growth also recorded a growth of 4.8 per cent in July 2024, two separate government data showed on Thursday.

The government has tasked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure that the CPI inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. However, the August data showed that the CPI inflation remained within the central bank’s target of 4 per cent.

According to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), inflation in the food basket was 5.66 per cent in August, marginally up from 5.42 per cent in July. “This is the second lowest retail inflation in the past five years. The rural and urban inflation rates stand at 4.16 per cent and 3.14 per cent, respectively,” the data showed.

Meanwhile, India’s industrial production growth slowed down to 4.8 per cent in July this year mainly due to poor show by mining and manufacturing sectors. The factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production or IIP, witnessed a growth of 6.2 per cent in July 2023. In the April-July period, the IIP grew 5.2 per cent against 5.1 per cent in the year-ago period.

As per the NSO data, India's IIP surged by 4.8 per cent in July 2024. The July data showed that the manufacturing sector’s output grew 4.6 per cent in July 2024 against 5.3 per cent in the year-ago month. “Mining production rose by 3.7 per cent and power output increased 7.9 per cent in July 2024,” the data showed.