India's retail inflation fell from 5.66 per cent in March to 4.7 per cent in April, the first time since November 2021 when it fell below 5 per cent.
April food inflation has eased further to 3.8 per cent from 4.7 per cent in March.
The significant fall in inflation is driven by a corresponding fall in food and beverage prices, which had a 54 per cent weightage in the overall rate.
The index of industrial production (IIP), which shows the growth rates of different sectors, shrunk to 1.1 per cent in March from 5.6 per cent in February.
"The price data was collected from 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages," the government said in a statement.
It was for the second month in a row that the consumer price index (CPI) based inflation remained within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) comfort zone of below 6 per cent.
The RBI has projected the CPI inflation at 5.2 per cent for fiscal 2024.
While food and fuel prices contributed to a fall in inflation, there is also a base effect at play. The inflation rate in April 2022 was 7.8 per cent, much above the RBI's 6 per cent threshold. The inflation rate, hence, is lower compared to the high prices last year.
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