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Rising prices and the RBI rate hike

Retail inflation rises to 4.82% in August as onion prices jump 48%

14 Sept 2026 · 3 outlets · 1 min read

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In 30 seconds
  1. CPI inflation was 4.82% in August 2026, the third month above the RBI's 4% target.
  2. Onion, ginger and garlic drove food prices up; tomato and potato prices fell.
  3. Wholesale inflation reached 9.92%, signalling cost pressure further up the supply chain.

Retail inflation rose to 4.82% in August 2026 from 4.45% in July, MoSPI data released on 14 September showed (later revised to 4.83%). Food inflation rose to 5.95%. Onion prices were up 48.27% on a year earlier, ginger 73.82% and garlic 43.60%, while tomatoes fell 31.09% and potatoes 13.14%. Rural inflation was 5.23% and urban 4.31%. Wholesale inflation, which tracks prices businesses pay, rose to 9.92%.

What it means for India

Kitchen staples got costlier, and rural families saw higher inflation (5.23%) than urban ones (4.31%). High wholesale inflation can feed into shop prices in later months.

Checked

Claim by claim

✓Verified

Retail inflation was 4.82% in August 2026.

Said by MoSPI

MoSPI's provisional figure; the final figure published a month later was 4.83%.

PIB
✓Verified

Wholesale price inflation rose to 9.92% in August from 9.78% in July.

Reported by PTI in The Hindu from official wholesale price data.

The Hindu
Honest gaps

Not yet known

  • ?How much of the onion price rise reflects weak monsoon rains versus stock running down before the new harvest.
Who reported this

Sources

Left-leaning · 1Centre · 1Official record · 1

3 outlets across the spectrum. Leanings are a rough guide to who reported it, not a verdict on accuracy.

  1. PIBPress Release of Consumer Price Index on Base 2024=100 for August, 2026
  2. Business TodayRetail inflation climbs to 4.82% in August as food prices rise
  3. The HinduRetail inflation rises to 4.82% in August

Spasht writes original summaries. Follow the links to read each outlet's own report. Revision 1.