New Delhi, February 12, 2026: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Thursday released the first data under the revised Consumer Price Index (CPI) series, showing retail inflation at 2.75% for January 2026. As this marks the first release under the new base year of 2024, year-on-year comparisons with earlier periods are not yet available.
The new CPI series replaces the earlier base year of 2012 and incorporates updated consumption patterns from the latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023–24. The release was made in the presence of MoSPI Secretary Saurabh Garg, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran, and other officials.
Expanded Coverage and Methodological Changes
The revised index significantly expands coverage of goods and services. The total number of items included has increased to 358 from 299 in the previous series. Goods now account for 308 items, up from 259, while services have risen to 50 from 40 earlier.
Data collection has also broadened geographically and digitally. Rural market coverage has expanded to 1,465 markets from 1,181, while urban market coverage has increased to 1,395 from 1,114. For the first time, data from 12 online marketplaces have been incorporated into the index.
The new series provides more detailed classification, dividing goods and services into 12 broad groups, compared to six under the previous framework. Officials said this change reflects evolving consumption patterns and structural changes in the economy over the past decade.
“The economy has undergone a significant transformation in the last decade,” Mr. Nageswaran said. “Consumption behaviour, market structures, and the compositions of household expenditure have evolved and the new CPI structure unsurprisingly reflects these changes.”
Revised Weights Reflect Consumption Trends
One of the key changes in the new series is the revision of weights assigned to various categories, based on updated expenditure patterns from the HCES 2023–24.
The weight assigned to the food and beverages category has been reduced to 36.75% from 45.86% in the previous series. According to Mr. Nageswaran, the lower weight for food which is generally more volatile may reduce overall volatility in headline inflation, other factors remaining constant.
The housing category has been expanded to include water, electricity, gas, and other fuels. The combined category now carries a weight of 17.67%, compared to 10.07% earlier for housing alone.
Additional broad groups introduced in the revised structure include:
- Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance (4.47%)
- Health (6.1%)
- Transport (8.8%)
- Information and communication (3.61%)
- Recreation, sports and culture (1.52%)
- Education services (3.33%)
- Restaurants and accommodation services (3.35%)
- Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (5.04%)
The weight of the paan, tobacco and intoxicants category has increased to 2.99% from 2.38%, while clothing and footwear has seen a reduction in weight to 2.38% from 6.53%.
“Since the basket is aligned with recent expenditure data, the inflation signals from this will be more closely matched to the prevailing economic conditions,” Mr. Nageswaran said. He added that the revised structure would strengthen the information base for calibrating monetary and fiscal policy.
Historical Data and Linking Factor
While January 2026 marks the first year-on-year inflation figure under the new series, MoSPI has provided index values using the revised methodology going back to January 2025. However, earlier index values are not directly available for calculating historical inflation rates.
Mr. Garg said that the government is following international practice by providing a linking factor that enables users to compute comparable index values back to 2013.
The introduction of the new CPI series is expected to influence how inflation trends are assessed by policymakers, financial markets, and researchers. With updated weights and expanded coverage, the revised index aims to better capture current consumption patterns and economic conditions.
Further monthly releases under the new series will allow clearer trend comparisons over time.
