Rising food prices pushed CPI inflation to 7% in August

Rising food prices led to a surge in retail price inflation in India in August. Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, which is used to measure retail price inflation in India, hit 7% in August from 6.71% the previous month.

The CNBC-TV18 survey had pegged CPI inflation at 6.84 percent.

Core CPI inflation for August was reported at 5.9%, while the Street had estimated it at 5.8%.

The industrial production index (IPI) for July was at 2.4%, while the street had estimated it at 4.8%. The June PII was pegged at 12.3%.

Food inflation in August hit 7.62% from 6.75% in July, according to government data.

While rural inflation in August rose to 7.15% from 6.8% in July, urban inflation rose to 6.72% from 6.49% in July.

Vegetable inflation rose to 13.23% from 10.9% the previous month. Pulses inflation also rose sharply to 2.52% from 0.18% in July.

However, fuel and lighting inflation fell to 10.78% in August from 11.76% in July.

Clothing and footwear inflation was pegged at 9.91% in August, down from 9.52% in July.

Housing inflation in August also rose to 4.06% from 3.9% the previous month.