Retail inflation may fall below 1 per cent:Index of 20 essential items slide 3.6 per cent in October; vegetables, pulses, rice become cheaper by up to 51 per cent

Inflation in the country continues to decrease. In October, vegetables became 51% cheaper, pulses 29% affordable, and rice 1.2% cheaper. Bank of Baroda estimates that due to this, retail inflation in October could be only 0.4-0.6%, which was 1.5% in September. Last month, the supply of vegetables in markets increased by up to 30%. This trend continues in November. The ‘BoB Essential Commodities Index’ has fallen for the sixth consecutive month. In October, it came down 3.60% compared to a year ago. In the first six days of November, this index also fell by 3.80%. This is an index of 20 essential items like vegetables, pulses, oil, and grains. Last month, the prices of tomatoes, onions and potatoes (TOP) decreased the most. Bank of Baroda’s economist Aditi Gupta said, ‘Inflation continues to decrease due to good crops in the country, falling prices of agricultural commodities like rice worldwide, and reduction in GST rates. We believe that retail inflation will remain low in the coming months as well.’ Changes in food prices compared to 2024 Note: Contrary to general trend, groundnut oil became cheaper by 2.5% in October and 4.4% in the first week of November. Source: Bank of Baroda Research Vegetables: Onions cheapest since 2020 According to the report, onion prices fell by 51%, tomato prices by 40%, and potato prices by 31% in October. Onion prices have fallen the most since December 2020. New potatoes will arrive this month. However, new potatoes are expensive initially. Grains: Rice prices have been falling continuously since April, flour prices increased Rice prices have been decreasing every month since April this year. In October too, prices fell by 1.2%. On the other hand, flour prices are increasing slightly every month. In October, flour became about 2% more expensive. Pulses: Tur dal prices fell the most in 8 years Pulse prices fell the most in 8 years in October. Tur dal became 29% cheaper, which is the biggest drop since January 2018. Meanwhile, for edible oils – mustard oil inflation remained at 16%, soybean oil at 8%, and sunflower oil at 17%. These had become expensive up to 31% in September. ​