India's retail inflation rose to a 21-month high of 5.54 per cent in September, as sharply costlier onions and other foods pushed prices further above the RBI's 4 per cent target.

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• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released provisional September 2026 data on October 12, showing CPI-based retail inflation at 5.54 per cent.
• Retail inflation was 4.83 per cent in August, so the headline rate rose by about 71 basis points in a single month.
• Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index, climbed to 7.74 per cent in September from 5.97 per cent in August.
• Onion prices were up 108.09 per cent year on year, against 48.78 per cent in August, making onions the steepest riser.
• Four of the five items with the highest inflation were food items, with ginger, garlic and lemons also seeing sharp price increases.
• Rural inflation rose to 6.08 per cent from 5.24 per cent, crossing the upper end of the RBI's tolerance band.
• Rural food inflation, at 8.06 per cent, ran above urban food inflation of 7.18 per cent.
• Restaurants and accommodation services recorded inflation of 9.36 per cent, while silver jewellery inflation was 87.8 per cent.
• Among larger states, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest retail inflation at 6.81 per cent, followed by Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
• The figures follow the revised CPI series with 2024 as the base year, which came into effect from January 2026.
• The RBI targets CPI inflation of 4 per cent with a tolerance band of 2 percentage points on either side.
• September figures are provisional and the next release, covering October 2026, is scheduled for November 12.