Consumer Price Index (CPI) Base 2024=100
Kartavya Desk Staff
Source: PIB
Subject: Economics
Context: MoSPI has released the first CPI (Base 2024=100) press note on 12 Feb 2026, reporting Jan 2026 retail inflation at 2.75%.
About Consumer Price Index (CPI) Base 2024=100:
What it is?
• Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change in retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services consumed by households, and is India’s headline retail inflation indicator (YoY % change in CPI).
Published by: Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) through NSO (National Statistical Office). Price collection is done by the Field Operations Division (NSO).
Base year:
• New base: 2024 = 100
• Earlier base: 2012 = 100
• Weights source: Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023–24.
Methods used:
• Jevons index (at item level): For each item, MoSPI compares prices in many markets and takes an average based on percentage change (ratio), so one very high/low price doesn’t distort too much.
• Young / Modified Laspeyres (for bigger groups): After finding price changes for many items, it adds them up using fixed spending weights (how much households typically spend on each item). So, items you spend more on (like food/rent) influence CPI more than items you rarely buy.
• Combined CPI (India total): India’s final CPI is made by mixing Rural CPI and Urban CPI in proportion to their share in total consumption (weights). So if rural consumption weight is higher, rural CPI influences the all-India CPI more (and vice-versa).
Key features of CPI 2024 series:
• New international system (12 categories instead of 6): Earlier, prices were grouped into 6 big categories. Now they are divided into 12 clearer categories, like health, transport, education, communication, etc.
• More items included (358 instead of 299): The price basket now covers more products and services people actually use today, so inflation reflects real life better.
• More focus on services: Earlier, services (like education, transport, OTT, healthcare) were fewer. Now more services are included, because people spend more on services today than before.
• Detailed data every month: Now inflation data is available not just for India overall, but also for each state, and separately for rural and urban areas, every month.
• Modern price collection (using tablets): Earlier, data was written on paper. Now officers use tablets (digital devices) to collect prices.
• Online prices included: Since many people shop online now, prices from online platforms (like OTT subscriptions or flight tickets) are also included.
• Official government data used for some services: For things like rail fares, postal charges, petrol, diesel, LPG, official government price data is used directly to ensure accuracy.
• The new series introduces rural house rent for the first time, significantly improving the coverage of rural housing consumption.