India September 2026 CPI Inflation Report
The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation released the Consumer Price Index data for September 2026, showing a significant increase in retail inflation. The year-on-year inflation rate based on All India CPI with base year 2024 reached 5.54% (provisional), up from 4.83% in August 2026. The inflation divergence between rural and urban areas widened, with rural inflation at 6.08% and urban inflation at 4.88%.
Food inflation accelerated markedly, with the Consumer Food Price Index showing 7.74% year-on-year inflation in September 2026, compared to 5.97% in August. Rural food inflation was higher at 8.06% while urban food inflation stood at 7.18%. The CPI (General) index values were 110.11 for rural, 108.71 for urban, and 109.49 for combined areas. The CFPI index values were 112.21 (rural), 112.10 (urban), and 112.17 (combined).
Sectoral Analysis
The data reveals significant variation across consumption categories. Food and beverages showed 7.36% inflation, with restaurants and accommodation services at 9.36%. Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods recorded the highest inflation at 13.75%. Housing-related categories showed moderate inflation: housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 2.74%, and furnishings, household equipment at 3.11%. Transport inflation was 5.01%, while health inflation remained low at 1.40%.
Commodity-wise Price Movements
The top five items with high inflation showed extreme price pressures: onions led with 108.09% inflation (up from 48.78% in August), followed by silver jewellery at 87.80%, ginger at 62.85%, garlic at 54.62%, and lemon at 36.41%. Conversely, several items remained in deflation: potatoes (-11.50%), tomatoes (-8.62%), motor cars and jeeps (-4.51%), lady's finger (-4.48%), and coconut (-3.99%).
State-level Performance
At the state level, Puducherry recorded the highest combined inflation at 6.86%, followed by Tamil Nadu (6.81%), Madhya Pradesh (6.68%), Odisha (6.70%), and Telangana (6.64%). The lowest inflation was observed in Mizoram (2.85%), Nagaland (3.22%), and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (4.30%). Chandigarh, with no rural markets, showed 4.39% urban inflation.
Data Collection Methodology
The price data was collected from 1,407 urban markets (including online markets) and 1,465 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff. The response rate achieved 100% in both rural and urban markets during September 2026. The reference period for petrol, diesel and LPG prices was the 15th of the month. The next CPI release for October 2026 is scheduled for November 12, 2026.