India's retail inflation shot up to 9.47 per cent in March, higher than the 8.83 per cent year-on-year increase recorded last month.
The surge was largely attributed to the rise in prices of milk and milk products (15.22 per cent), oil and fats (14.20 per cent), vegetables (9.55 per cent), clothing (12.50 per cent) and fuel (11.80 per cent), besides egg, fish and meat (10.06 per cent). Retail inflation, which is based on consumer prices, went up in both rural and urban areas in March.
While retail inflation in urban areas stood at 10.30 per cent (9.45 per cent in February), the spurt was moderate in rural areas at 8.79 per cent (8.36 per cent), official data released on Wednesday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed. While sugar saw a marginal rise of 3.78 per cent in March, ‘pulses and products' were up by 4.89 per cent over the same month last year.