**Executive Summary**
This report presents the provisional All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for March 2026, using the base year 2024=100. The combined year-on-year inflation rate for March 2026 is 3.40%, with food inflation at 3.87%. The next CPI release for April 2026 is scheduled for May 12, 2026.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**National Inflation Trends (March 2026 Provisional)**
* The general CPI inflation rate is 3.40% (Combined), with Rural at 3.63% and Urban at 3.11%.
* The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) inflation is 3.87% (Combined), with Rural at 3.96% and Urban at 3.71%.
* Housing inflation for March 2026 is 2.11%.
* The final combined CPI inflation for February 2026 was recorded at 3.21%.
**Specific Item Inflation**
* **High Inflation Items:** Silver jewellery (148.61%), Gold/Diamond/Platinum jewellery (45.92%), Coconut: copra (45.52%), Tomato (35.99%), and Cauliflower (34.11%).
* **Low Inflation/Deflation Items:** Garlic (-10.18%), Arhar/Tur (-9.56%), Peas/chickpeas (-7.87%), Onion (-27.76%), and Potato (-18.98%).
* **Division-wise Highlights:** "Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services" saw the highest division inflation at 18.65%.
**State-Level Indices**
* Telangana recorded the highest combined inflation rate at 5.83%.
* Other states with high inflation include Andhra Pradesh (4.05%), Karnataka (3.96%), and Tamil Nadu (3.77%).
* Mizoram recorded the lowest inflation rate at 0.66%.
**Data Collection Statistics**
* Price data is sourced from 1,407 urban markets and 1,465 villages.
* The response rate for March 2026 was 100% for urban markets and 99.93% for rural markets.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Government and Policy Makers**
**Impact**
The data provides a benchmark for evaluating economic health and price stability across different sectors and regions.
**Action Required**
Analyze regional disparities, such as high inflation in Telangana, and monitor the extreme price volatility in the jewellery and personal care sectors.
**Stakeholder: Consumers (Rural and Urban)**
**Impact**
Rural consumers are facing a higher inflation rate (3.63%) compared to urban consumers (3.11%), particularly in food (3.96%).
**Action Required**
Adjust household spending to account for high costs in personal care and specific vegetables (tomatoes, cauliflower) while benefiting from lower prices in onions and potatoes.
**Stakeholder: Economists and Market Analysts**
**Impact**
Granular data on item weights and state-wise indices allow for detailed economic forecasting and trend analysis.
**Action Required**
Access detailed datasets via the eSankhyiki portal, while exercising caution with state-level item indices due to potentially thin sample sizes in some cases.
Key Entities Referenced
Consumer Price Index (CPI): A national statistical measure used to track inflation by monitoring retail price changes of goods and services with 2024 as the base year.
Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI): A specific sub-index that measures inflation rates for food items across rural, urban, and combined sectors.
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI): The primary government body responsible for the coordination, compilation, and release of official national statistical reports and price indices.
National Statistical Office (NSO): The department within MoSPI responsible for the systematic collection of real-time price data from urban markets and rural villages through its Field Operations Division.
eSankhyiki portal: The official digital platform and initiative by MoSPI used for the dissemination and download of granular state-level and item-wise statistical indices.
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
PRESS RELEASE OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
ON BASE 2024=100 FOR MARCH, 2026
Posted On: 13 APR 2026 4:00PM by PIB Delhi
I. Key Statistics
A. National Level Indices
Year-on-year inflation rate based on All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) with base year 2024 for
the month of March, 2026 over March, 2025 is 3.40%(Provisional). Corresponding inflation rates
for rural and urban are 3.63% and 3.11%, respectively.
March, 2026 (Provisional) February, 2026 (Final)
Rural Urban Combined Rural Urban Combined
Inflation CPI 3.63 3.11 3.40 3.37 3.02 3.21
(%) (General)
CFPI 3.96 3.71 3.87 3.46 3.48 3.47
Index CPI 105.01 104.62 104.84 104.74 104.36 104.57
(General)
CFPI 104.01 104.38 104.14 103.79 104.04 103.88
Food Inflation: - Year-on-year inflation rate based on All India Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI)
for the month of March, 2026 over March, 2025 is 3.87% (Provisional). Corresponding inflation
rates for rural and urban are 3.96% and 3.71%, respectively.Housing Inflation: - Year-on-year Housing inflation rate for the month of March, 2026 is 2.11%
(Provisional) and the corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban are 2.54% and 1.95%,
respectively.
At National level, division wise inflation for the month of March, 2026 in the Combined sector may
be seen from the graph below-
Top 5 key items with low inflation at All India combined level in March, 2026 are given in table
below:
S.No. Item Weight Inflation (%) Inflation (%)
February, 2026 March, 2026
1 Onion 0.7006 -28.20 -27.76
2 Potato 0.7549 -18.47 -18.98S.No. Item Weight Inflation (%) Inflation (%)
February, 2026 March, 2026
3 Garlic 0.3738 -31.10 -10.18
4 Arhar, Tur 0.5333 -16.00 -9.56
5 Peas, 0.0516 -8.26 -7.87
chickpeas
Top 5 key items with high inflation at All India combined level in March, 2026 are given in table
below:
S.No. Item Weight Inflation (%) Inflation (%)
February, 2026 March, 2026
1 Silver Jewellery 0.3127 160.88 148.61
2 Gold/Diamond/Platinum 0.6230 48.17 45.92
Jewellery
3 Coconut: copra 0.0854 46.16 45.52
4 Tomato 0.4961 45.18 35.99
5 Cauliflower 0.2330 43.76 34.11
B. State level Indices
Top five States (having more than 50 lakhs population as per Census 2011) with highest inflation in
March, 2026 are given below-II. February 2026 (Final) figures for CPI base 2024=100
All India CPI, CFPI and corresponding inflation rates for the month of February 2026 (Final) with base
year 2024 are given as follows-
February, 2026 (Final) at Base 2024=100
Rural Urban Combined
Inflation (%) CPI 3.37 3.02 3.21
(General)
CFPI 3.46 3.48 3.47
Index CPI 104.74 104.36 104.57
(General)
CFPI 103.79 104.04 103.88Response Rate- Real time price data are collected from selected 1407 urban Markets (including
online markets) and 1465 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff of
Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster. During the month of March, 2026,
prices were collected from 100% rural and urban markets while the market-wise prices reported
therein were 99.93% for rural markets and 100% for urban markets.
CPI for April 2026 will be released on 12th May, 2026 (Tuesday) or the next working day in
case of 12th being a holiday.
State and Item wise indices for March 2026 may be downloaded from eSankhyiki portal of
MoSPI- https://esankhyiki.mospi.gov.in/
State-level item indices, available on the portal, should be interpreted cautiously in view of thin
samples of price used for index compilation in some of the cases.
Indices at all levels and inflation rates are compiled using the actual index values. However, the
indices published are rounded to two decimal places. Therefore, higher-level indices, if
calculated from the published indices may not match exactly.
III.
IV. Annexures
Annexure Title
I All India General (Rural, Urban and Combined) division wise indices and inflation for
March, 2026 (Provisional)
II All India General (Rural, Urban and Combined) group wise indices and inflation for
March, 2026 (Provisional)
III State wise general index and inflation in March, 2026 (Provisional)
IV All India Combined (General) level index and inflation
Annexure- I
All India General (Rural, Urban and Combined) division wise indices and inflation for March, 2026
(Provisional)Division Division name Index Inflation
code
Rural Urban Comb. Rural Urban Comb.
01 Food and beverages 104.00 104.31 104.12 3.81 3.53 3.71
02 Paan, tobacco and intoxicants 106.30 106.41 106.33 4.15 4.42 4.23
03 Clothing and footwear 107.12 105.19 106.39 3.17 2.06 2.75
04 Housing, water, electricity, gas 103.07 102.46 102.69 2.14 1.87 1.97
and other fuels
05 Furnishings, household 103.53 103.03 103.32 1.60 1.11 1.39
equipment and routine
household maintenance
06 Health 103.75 104.43 104.01 1.65 1.92 1.75
07 Transport 100.76 100.69 100.73 0.01 -0.01 0.00
08 Information and 103.74 103.13 103.47 0.44 0.19 0.33
communication
09 Recreation, sport and culture 104.06 104.19 104.13 2.08 2.49 2.28
10 Education services 104.79 105.83 105.42 2.95 3.53 3.30
11 Restaurants and 105.52 107.06 106.34 2.36 3.35 2.88
accommodation services
13 Personal care, social 124.91 123.11 124.13 19.55 17.46 18.65
protection and miscellaneous
goods and services
All India 105.01 104.62 104.84 3.63 3.11 3.40
Note: Comb.: Combined
Annexure- II
All India General (Rural, Urban and Combined) group wise indices and inflation for March, 2026
(Provisional)Group Group name Index Inflation
code
Rural Urban Comb. Rural Urban Comb.
01.1 Food 104.01 104.38 104.14 3.96 3.71 3.87
01.2 Beverages 103.47 103.11 103.31 0.82 0.63 0.74
01.3 Services for processing primary 106.55 106.95 106.67 2.88 3.53 3.07
goods for food
02.1 Alcoholic beverages 106.07 105.39 105.85 3.37 2.79 3.18
02.3 Paan and tobacco 106.50 107.47 106.78 4.84 6.14 5.22
03.1 Clothing 107.63 105.84 106.95 3.59 2.61 3.22
03.2 Footwear 103.78 101.12 102.74 0.41 -1.43 -0.31
04.1 Actual rental payments made for 103.10 102.67 102.77 2.36 1.90 2.00
housing
04.3 Maintenance, repair and security of 105.68 104.99 105.43 3.30 3.07 3.22
the dwelling
04.4 Water supply and miscellaneous 100.94 102.33 101.91 0.57 1.64 1.31
services relating to the dwelling
04.5 Electricity, gas and other fuels 102.49 101.14 101.96 1.73 1.53 1.65
05.1 Furniture, furnishings, and loose 105.23 104.30 104.88 2.47 1.84 2.23
carpets
05.2 Household textiles 106.15 103.97 105.33 2.90 0.99 2.18
05.3 Household appliances 101.95 100.75 101.39 0.43 -0.69 -0.09
05.4 Glassware, tableware and household 106.59 105.10 106.02 3.48 2.06 2.94
utensils
05.5 Tools and equipment for house and 98.67 99.17 98.83 -1.85 -0.39 -1.37
gardenGroup Group name Index Inflation
code
Rural Urban Comb. Rural Urban Comb.
05.6 Goods and services for routine 102.94 103.36 103.13 1.45 1.54 1.49
household maintenance
06.1 Medicines and health products 104.65 104.58 104.62 2.12 1.62 1.93
06.2 Outpatient care services 101.80 104.24 102.79 0.68 2.42 1.39
06.3 Inpatient care services 102.42 105.23 103.59 0.70 3.32 1.79
06.4 Other health services 102.35 103.19 102.67 1.01 1.63 1.24
07.1 Purchase of vehicles 97.56 96.89 97.22 -4.56 -4.91 -4.74
07.2 Operation of personal transport 100.04 100.06 100.05 0.10 0.11 0.10
equipment
07.3 Passenger transport services 103.34 104.12 103.67 1.63 2.44 1.98
07.4 Transport services for goods 107.63 107.76 107.71 7.43 7.62 7.55
08.1 Information and communication 98.40 97.56 98.01 -1.19 -1.89 -1.51
equipment
08.3 Information and communication 105.18 104.78 105.01 0.85 0.78 0.82
services
09.1 Recreational durables 98.88 100.79 100.22 -0.41 0.49 0.22
09.2 Other recreational goods 105.18 105.13 105.16 2.53 2.35 2.46
09.3 Garden products and pets 114.31 114.15 114.22 7.60 9.25 8.47
09.4 Recreational services 102.84 102.07 102.38 1.57 1.35 1.44
09.5 Cultural goods 102.47 104.38 103.42 1.30 1.74 1.52
09.6 Cultural services 103.43 104.38 104.01 1.80 2.02 1.93
09.7 Newspapers, books and stationery 102.54 102.65 102.59 1.18 1.54 1.34Group Group name Index Inflation
code
Rural Urban Comb. Rural Urban Comb.
10.1 Early childhood and primary 106.17 106.04 106.09 3.74 3.20 3.40
education
10.2 Secondary education 105.49 107.18 106.56 3.44 4.43 4.07
10.4 Higher education 102.21 105.87 104.58 1.56 4.82 3.67
10.5 Education not defined by level 103.21 103.44 103.32 1.90 2.14 2.02
11.1 Food and beverage serving services 105.54 107.07 106.36 2.37 3.35 2.89
11.2 Accommodation services 102.27 104.70 103.36 0.82 2.48 1.56
13.1 Personal care 104.86 105.39 105.09 2.65 2.78 2.70
13.2 Other personal effects 178.80 168.47 174.23 61.37 52.09 57.26
13.9 Other services 102.87 102.15 102.59 1.54 1.26 1.43
Note: Comb.: Combined
Annexure-III
State wise general index and inflation in March, 2026 (Provisional)
CPI Inflation
State
Rural Urban Combined Rural Urban Combined
Andaman And Nicobar Islands 106.70 104.87 105.80 4.14 2.70 3.44
Andhra Pradesh 104.74 104.94 104.82 4.14 3.91 4.05
Arunachal Pradesh 103.37 103.24 103.33 2.53 1.68 2.31
Assam 104.14 102.86 103.87 3.10 1.78 2.83
Bihar 104.14 102.70 103.93 3.11 1.78 2.92
Chandigarh -- 104.21 104.21 -- 3.17 3.17Chhattisgarh 101.74 101.98 101.82 1.35 1.35 1.35
Goa 103.51 104.05 103.85 1.67 2.52 2.21
Gujarat 104.18 103.83 103.97 3.54 2.74 3.07
Haryana 104.87 104.69 104.78 2.99 2.38 2.68
Himachal Pradesh 104.63 105.65 104.79 2.88 3.93 3.05
Jammu And Kashmir 104.99 104.60 104.88 2.02 2.67 2.20
Jharkhand 104.33 102.58 103.73 3.61 2.07 3.08
Karnataka 106.20 105.43 105.81 4.24 3.68 3.96
Kerala 106.24 104.93 105.51 4.31 3.06 3.62
Ladakh 105.41 105.41 105.41 0.82 1.30 0.94
Lakshadweep 104.41 105.69 105.34 2.69 3.52 3.29
Madhya Pradesh 104.83 104.48 104.69 3.51 3.45 3.49
Maharashtra 105.86 104.62 105.10 4.29 2.89 3.44
Manipur 102.48 103.51 102.81 1.73 2.46 1.96
Meghalaya 104.58 103.17 104.21 3.30 1.99 2.96
Mizoram 103.35 102.16 102.67 1.02 0.40 0.66
Nagaland 106.01 103.47 105.04 3.72 2.44 3.23
NCT of Delhi 101.54 103.23 103.19 1.83 1.86 1.86
Odisha 103.72 103.47 103.65 3.50 2.83 3.32
Puducherry 105.85 105.52 105.62 4.31 4.13 4.18
Punjab 105.59 104.52 105.10 3.21 2.70 2.97
Rajasthan 105.59 104.95 105.36 3.86 3.24 3.64Sikkim 106.40 105.64 106.14 4.41 4.02 4.28
Tamil Nadu 105.21 105.36 105.29 3.83 3.72 3.77
Telangana 108.15 107.20 107.61 6.64 5.24 5.83
The Dadra And Nagar Haveli And 103.17 103.96 103.76 3.10 3.22 3.19
Daman And Diu
Tripura 102.07 102.46 102.16 2.26 2.23 2.25
Uttar Pradesh 105.22 104.86 105.10 3.52 3.25 3.43
Uttarakhand 106.12 104.51 105.53 3.60 2.81 3.31
West Bengal 103.93 103.76 103.85 2.99 2.66 2.84
--: No rural market in Chandigarh
Annexure-IV
All India Combined (General) level index and inflation
Month Index Inflation (%)
Rural Urban Combined Rural Urban Combined
Jan-25 101.81 101.49 101.67
Feb-25 101.33 101.30 101.32
Mar-25 101.34 101.47 101.39
Apr-25 101.49 101.71 101.58
May-25 101.78 102.06 101.90
Jun-25 102.39 102.66 102.51
Jul-25 103.34 103.36 103.35
Aug-25 103.84 103.60 103.74
Sep-25 103.80 103.66 103.74Oct-25 103.85 103.61 103.74
Nov-25 104.16 103.83 104.01
Dec-25 104.19 103.98 104.10
Jan-26 104.59 104.28 104.45 2.73 2.75 2.74
Feb-26 104.74 104.36 104.57 3.37 3.02 3.21
Mar-26* 105.01 104.62 104.84 3.63 3.11 3.40
*Index and Inflation for the month of March 2026 are provisional.
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