Meghalaya’s retail inflation rate of food prices in the urban areas is much higher than in the rural areas.
This is as per the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures released by the National Statistics Office today.
The final CPI in the rural areas in September was 172 per cent while the provisional index for October was 172.2 per cent.
In the urban areas, the final CPI in September was 177.7 per cent whereas in October it was 177.9 per cent.
Further, the combined CPI for the entire State in September was 173.8 per cent. In October, the provisional index was 174 per cent.
The data also showed that India’s retail inflation reduced to a five-month low of 4.87 per cent in October much to the relief of consumers.
Sequentially, too, the inflation rate is lower than the corresponding figure of 5.02 per cent recorded in September.
The price data are collected on Base 2012=100 from selected 1114 urban markets and 1181 villages covering all states and union territories through personal visits by field staff of the Field Operations Division of NSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on a weekly roster. During the month of October, the NSO collected prices from 99.8 per cent villages and 98.6 per cent urban markets while the market-wise prices reported therein were 89.0 per cent for rural and 92.0 per cent for urban.
According to the NSO, food inflation stood at 6.71 per cent in October compared to 6.56 per cent in September.
The price of edible oils came down by 13.69 per cent. However, the price of pulses went up by 18.79 per cent during the month and the price of spices jumped to a whopping 22.76 per cent.
Prices of cereals including wheat and rice also rose by 10.69 per cent during the month.
The next date of release for November 2023 CPI is December 12.