New Delhi: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) revised the CPI base year from 2012=100 to 2024=100. The updated Consumer Price Index expands market coverage and better reflects current consumption patterns, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Minister of State (Independent Charge) Rao Inderjit Singh said MoSPI released the revised CPI series on February 12, 2026. He said the ministry based the new series on the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24. It also expanded the country’s price collection network.
The ministry now collects prices from 1,465 rural markets and 1,395 urban markets across 434 towns. It also added 12 online markets in cities with populations above 25 lakh. The move captures price changes on e-commerce platforms.
The revised basket now includes 358 weighted items at the All India level. The earlier basket had 299 items. Goods increased from 259 to 308 items. Services increased from 40 to 50 items.
CPI base year revision expands market coverage
MoSPI said inflation under the CPI base year 2024 series has been available since January 2026. The ministry published inflation under the 2012 series up to December 2025. It said users should not compare the two series directly because the basket, weights, market coverage and methodology have changed.
Combined year-on-year inflation stood at 2.74% in January 2026. It rose to 3.21% in February, 3.40% in March and 3.48% in April. Inflation reached 3.93% in May and a provisional 4.38% in June.
MoSPI released the Expert Group Report on Comprehensive Updation of Consumer Price Index on January 29, 2026. The ministry later held press conferences, panel discussions and brainstorming sessions. It also published media articles to explain the revised series.
The ministry also released linking factors between the 2012 and 2024 series. These factors help users maintain continuity between the two indices. MoSPI has also made back-series data for January 2013 to December 2024 available on the e-Sankhyiki portal.
