New Delhi: Retail inflation inched up to 3.48 percent in April mainly due to higher prices of gold and silver jewellery as well as some kitchen items, according to government data released on Tuesday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation, with base year 2024, was 3.40 percent in March, 3.21 percent in February, and 2.74 percent in January.

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The data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that inflation in the food basket was at 4.20 percent in April, up from 3.87 per cent in the preceding month.

The highest inflation was in silver jewellery (144.34 percent), followed by coconut-copra (44.55 percent); gold, diamond, platinum jewellery (40.72 percent), tomato (35.28 percent), and cauliflower (25.58 percent).

On the other hand, there was a contraction in prices of potato, onion, motor car and jeep, peas, and air-conditioners, the data showed.

Last month, the Reserve Bank projected the CPI inflation for 2026-27 at 4.6 percent, with 4 percent in Q1. It also said that persistently elevated energy prices due to the West Asia conflict and possible El Niño conditions (which could have a negative impact on the southwest monsoon) pose upside risks to inflation.

The Reserve Bank factors in the CPI while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy.

The NSO data showed that CPI inflation rates for rural and urban areas were 3.74 percent and 3.16 percent, respectively.

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The highest inflation was in Telangana (5.81 percent) and the lowest in Mizoram (0.69 percent).

NSO collects real-time price data from selected 1,407 urban markets (including online markets) and 1,465 villages covering all states and Union Territories.

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