Retail inflation increased to 4.82% in August, largely driven by higher food prices, according to government data released on Monday (September 14, 2026). The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was 4.45% in July.

Food inflation in August increased to 5.95% compared to 5.52% in the preceding month, according to CPI data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO). Reserve Bank has projected the CPI inflation for 2026-27 at 5%, with Q2 at 4.7%, Q3 at 5.9%, and Q4 at 5.5%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently kept key short-term policy rates unchanged amid inflation worries. RBI’s official mandate is to keep inflation within the acceptable range of 2% to 6%.

Meanwhile, the wholesale price-based inflation rose to 9.92% in August from 9.78% in July, mainly due to rising prices of food, fuel and manufactured items.