Telangana tops inflation charts at 8.32%
The Hindu
Telangana, along with West Bengal (8.06%) and Sikkim (8.01%), report rates well above the nation’s 6.8%
India’s retail inflation has been a bugbear for the economy since it surged past 6% in January, but there are wide disparities in the pace of price rise experienced by consumers across the country, with a dozen States clocking an average inflation of less than 6% and another 12 States averaging over 7% through 2022 so far.
While headline inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index has averaged 6.8% in the first seven months of 2022, well above the 6% upper tolerance threshold set by policy makers, retail prices in States like Kerala (4.8%), Tamil Nadu (5.01%), Punjab (5.35%), Delhi (5.56%), and Karnataka (5.84%) have been rising at less than 6%. Smaller States like Manipur, Goa and Meghalaya have had an average inflation of less than 4% through this period, at 1.07%, 3.66%, and 3.84%, respectively.
As many as 14 States, along with the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir, have witnessed price rise higher than the national average through 2022, with all but two of these States seeing higher than 7% inflation. Consumers in Telangana, West Bengal and Sikkim faced the steepest spike in prices, with their combined retail inflation for rural and urban areas averaging 8.32%, 8.06%, and 8.01%, respectively.
Some of the other major States where inflation has stayed sharply elevated include Maharashtra and Haryana (7.7%), Madhya Pradesh (7.52%), Assam (7.37%), Uttar Pradesh (7.27%), Gujarat and J&K (7.2%), as well as Rajasthan (7.1%).
“The variation in the States’ inflation rates is mainly on account of two factors,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. “One is food prices, where non-producing States have higher inflation as transport prices get added. Second is that some States lowered fuel prices while others didn’t, which also made a difference,” he said.
Moreover, States that have more rural areas than urban areas face a higher inflation as the rural segment of the Consumer Price Index has a higher weightage for food costs, Mr. Sabnavis pointed out.
Arunachal Pradesh, for which only a rural consumer price index is calculated by the National Statistical Office, has averaged 7.3% inflation this year, peaking at 9.2% in April when the headline retail inflation for the country had hit a 95-month high of 7.79%.
Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten stated that “not so great decision making” contributed to his side’s defeat to India in the Group-A T20 World Cup clash here on Sunday. The batting unit came apart in the chase, after being well placed at 72 for two. With 48 runs needed from eight overs, Pakistan found a way to panic and lose. “Maybe not so great decision making,” Kirsten said at the post-match press conference, when asked to explain the loss.