Retail Inflation Eases In December; IIP Contracts 1.9% In November

India's retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased last month. According to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Tuesday, CPI for the month grew at 4.59% in December when compared to 6.93% in November.

The month's CPI has fallen within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) inflation target of 2 to 6%.

The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), that measures inflation in the food basket, eased to 3.41% in the month of December, down from 9.50% in November, indicating that inflation data improved mainly due to a fall in food prices.

Another set of government data released on Tuesday showed that the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the month of November contracted by 1.9% to 126.3 when compared to 3.6% growth in October.

Data further showed that mining output declined by 7.3% in November and manufacturing production contracted 1.7%. However, electricity production grew by 3.5%.