CPI shows maximum rise in Kerala, Orissa and Meghalaya in Jan

In all three states, the consumer price index (CPI) overall stood at 108 in January from a base of 100 in 2010, suggesting inflation of 8 per cent.

Incidentally, even richer states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi and Punjab reported a rise of only 4-6 per cent in CPI on an annual basis during the month under review.

The new CPI intended to reflect the actual movement of prices at the micro-level and help policy-makers like the RBI in better framing of decisions was launched today, with initial data pointing to six per cent retail inflation in January.

While CPI, according to new series, has increased to 106 in January this year from a base of 100 in 2010, government has chosen not to mention the inflation figure saying the exact level could be arrived only next year.

The figure was arrived based on a comparison with the annual all-India CPI index average for the whole of 2010.

According to new series, all-India CPI stood at 106 (provisional figure) for January 2011 taking the base at an annualised level of 100 for the entire last year.

"Since these indices are being introduced for the first time, annual inflation rates have not been compiled," the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said in a statement.

The CPI has been released for rural, urban and all-India levels.
While the rural CPI indices stood at 107, CPI urban stood at 104 during the month under review.

These consumer indices have been released for five major groups  -- food, beverages and tobacco; fuel and light; housing; clothing, bedding and footwear; and miscellaneous.
While prices remained almost stagnant in the housing segment with most of the states reporting no increase in the index, food beverages and tobacco (FBT), and clothing, bedding and footwear (CBT) segments witnessed huge jumps.

In FBT, the index went up by as high as 13 per cent in Meghalaya, 11 per cent in Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Puducherry and 9 per cent in Mizoram, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The CBT group in January witnessed a growth of 9 per cent in Haryana, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, 8 per cent in Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, and 7 per cent in Chandigarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep.