Consumer price inflation for industrial workers down at 5.79% in March

The all-India CPI-IW for March 2023 increased by 0. 6 points and stood at 133.3. On 1-month percentage change, it increased by 0.45 per cent with respect to previous month compared to increase of 0.80 per cent recorded between corresponding months a year ago.

The maximum upward pressure in current index came from `fuel & Light’ group which contributed 0.25 percentage points to the total change. At item level, cooking gas/LPG, fire wood and chips, hospital/nursing home charges, allopathic medicine, motor cycle/scooter, toilet soap, tooth paste,  arhar dal, cow milk, dairy milk, fish, ghee, apple, banana, cauliflower, brinjal, cabbage, bitter guard, French bean, lemon, peas,  cumin seed/jira, cooked meal are responsible for the rise in index. 

However, this increase was largely checked by wheat atta, rice, potato, onion, drum stick, lady finger, tomato, grapes, soyabean oil, sunflower oil, mustard oil, cotton seed oil, poultry chicken, egg etc putting downward pressure on the index.

At centre level, Ahmedabad recorded a maximum increase of 3.3 points, followed by Jamshedpur and Gurugram with 3.2 and 3.1 points, respectively. Among others, 3 centres recorded increases between 2 and 2.9 points, 23 centres between 1 and 1.9 points and 43 centres between 0.1 and 0.9 points. On the contrary, Salem recorded a maximum decrease of 1.4 points, followed by Tirunelveli and Tripura with 1.1 and 1 point, respectively. Among others, 9 centers recorded decrease between 0.1 and 0.9 points. For the remaining four centers the index remained stationary.

The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the ministry of labour and employment, has been compiling consumer price index for industrial workers every month on the basis of retail prices collected from 317 markets spread over 88 industrially important centres in the country. The index is compiled for 88 centres and All-India and is released on the last working day of succeeding month.