India's retail inflation rises to three-month high of 4.9% in November

Remains within RBI's target range for fifth month

India’s retail inflation rate rose to a three-month high of 4.91 per cent in November from 4.48 per cent in the previous month, despite the Centre and states reducing taxes on petrol and diesel.

This was primarily because of a rise in food inflation to 1.87 per cent from 0.85 per cent over this period, even as prices of vegetables, except for some items such as tomatoes, continued to fall. Besides this, a surge in input prices prompted companies to increase prices of their products and services as demand strengthened.

Though the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation rate has