India’s retail inflation rose to 6.09 per cent in October, its highest in two years and above the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent for the first time since October 2024, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed on Thursday, November 12.
The figure was up from 5.54 per cent in September. It is the highest reading under the new Consumer Price Index series introduced in January 2026, according to Indian Opinion.
The Statesman reported that retail inflation has risen for 12 months in a row, from a low of 0.04 per cent in October 2025. The Statesman also noted that an unfavourable base effect pushed the annual rate higher, meaning prices a year earlier were low enough to magnify this year’s increase.
The overall CPI index rose 0.51 per cent to 110.05 in October from 109.49 in September.
Food prices led the surge. Food inflation climbed to 8.94 per cent in October from 7.74 per cent in September. Inflation hardened in 11 of the 12 categories, including food and beverages, restaurant services and transport.
Onions were the biggest contributor, with prices up 116.22 per cent from a year earlier, according to OpIndia. Silver jewellery, at 52.39 per cent, was another of the five items with the highest inflation.
Rural India was hit harder than urban India. Rural inflation rose to 6.63 per cent from 6.08 per cent in September, while urban inflation climbed to 5.41 per cent from 4.88 per cent. Among states, Tamil Nadu recorded retail inflation of 7.29 per cent, and Andhra Pradesh topped food inflation at 13.23 per cent, according to NDTV as cited by Indian Opinion.
The numbers put pressure on the RBI. The central bank raised its benchmark repo rate by 0.25 percentage points to 5.50 per cent in October, its first hike in nearly four years, and signalled that more could follow because of rising inflation, a weak rupee and high crude oil prices.
Economists now expect another hike at its next Monetary Policy Committee meeting, scheduled from December 2 to 4. Inflation has stayed above the RBI’s 4 per cent medium-term target for five months in a row.
Rating agency Icra expects food and beverage inflation to stay above 8 per cent in November, with milk, sugar and onions adding upward pressure. Economists quoted in PTI’s report said headline inflation is likely to stay above the 6 per cent limit for the next few months.
For households, the figures mean that staples are getting more expensive at a time when borrowing is also about to become costlier. The RBI’s mandate is to keep inflation between 2 and 6 per cent. Whether it will respond with another rate hike in December, and whether the government will take steps on food prices, will be watched closely.
