Last Updated on April 13, 2026 4:15 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
- Key Statistics
- 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 (General) | 3.63 | 3.11 | 3.40 | 3.37 | 3.02 | 3.21 |
| CFPI | 3.96 | 3.71 | 3.87 | 3.46 | 3.48 | 3.47 | |
| Index | CPI (General) | 105.01 | 104.62 | 104.84 | 104.74 | 104.36 | 104.57 |
| 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 (%)February, 2026 | Inflation (%)March, 2026 | |
| 1 | Onion |  | 0.7006 | -28.20 | -27.76 |
| 2 | Potato |  | 0.7549 | -18.47 | -18.98 |
| 3 | Garlic |  | 0.3738 | -31.10 | -10.18 |
| 4 | Arhar, Tur |  | 0.5333 | -16.00 | -9.56 |
| 5 | Peas, chickpeas |  | 0.0516 | -8.26 | -7.87 |
- 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 (%)February, 2026 | Inflation (%)March, 2026 | |
| 1 | Silver Jewellery |  | 0.3127 | 160.88 | 148.61 |
| 2 | Gold/Diamond/Platinum Jewellery |  | 0.6230 | 48.17 | 45.92 |
| 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 |
- 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-
- 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 (General) | 3.37 | 3.02 | 3.21 |
| CFPI | 3.46 | 3.48 | 3.47 | |
| Index | CPI (General) | 104.74 | 104.36 | 104.57 |
| CFPI | 103.79 | 104.04 | 103.88 | |
- Response 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.
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 code | Division name | Index | Inflation | ||||
| 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 and other fuels | 103.07 | 102.46 | 102.69 | 2.14 | 1.87 | 1.97 |
| 05 | Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance | 103.53 | 103.03 | 103.32 | 1.60 | 1.11 | 1.39 |
| 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 communication | 103.74 | 103.13 | 103.47 | 0.44 | 0.19 | 0.33 |
| 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 accommodation services | 105.52 | 107.06 | 106.34 | 2.36 | 3.35 | 2.88 |
| 13 | Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services | 124.91 | 123.11 | 124.13 | 19.55 | 17.46 | 18.65 |
| 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 code | Group name | Index | Inflation | ||||
| 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 goods for food | 106.55 | 106.95 | 106.67 | 2.88 | 3.53 | 3.07 |
| 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 housing | 103.10 | 102.67 | 102.77 | 2.36 | 1.90 | 2.00 |
| 04.3 | Maintenance, repair and security of the dwelling | 105.68 | 104.99 | 105.43 | 3.30 | 3.07 | 3.22 |
| 04.4 | Water supply and miscellaneous services relating to the dwelling | 100.94 | 102.33 | 101.91 | 0.57 | 1.64 | 1.31 |
| 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 carpets | 105.23 | 104.30 | 104.88 | 2.47 | 1.84 | 2.23 |
| 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 utensils | 106.59 | 105.10 | 106.02 | 3.48 | 2.06 | 2.94 |
| 05.5 | Tools and equipment for house and garden | 98.67 | 99.17 | 98.83 | -1.85 | -0.39 | -1.37 |
| 05.6 | Goods and services for routine household maintenance | 102.94 | 103.36 | 103.13 | 1.45 | 1.54 | 1.49 |
| 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 equipment | 100.04 | 100.06 | 100.05 | 0.10 | 0.11 | 0.10 |
| 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 equipment | 98.40 | 97.56 | 98.01 | -1.19 | -1.89 | -1.51 |
| 08.3 | Information and communication services | 105.18 | 104.78 | 105.01 | 0.85 | 0.78 | 0.82 |
| 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 | 1.34 |
| 10.1 | Early childhood and primary education | 106.17 | 106.04 | 106.09 | 3.74 | 3.20 | 3.40 |
| 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)
| State | CPI | Inflation | ||||
| 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 | 3.17 |
| Chhattisgarh | 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 | 3.64 |
| Sikkim | 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 Daman And Diu | 103.17 | 103.96 | 103.76 | 3.10 | 3.22 | 3.19 |
| 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 | 103.74 | |||
| Oct-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.