India Govt releases new consumer inflation numbers; Inflation at 7.65% in Jan 2012

New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) Inflation based on the all India Consumer Price Index stood at 7.65 per cent in January, as per the first nationwide retail inflation data released by the government today. Overall retail inflation in rural and urban areas stood at 7.38 per cent and 8.25 per cent, respectively. "There was a long pending demand of ministries and various users for a comprehensive consumer inflation rate. To meet this demand, annual inflation rates based on this broad based CPI series for January 2012 are released today," India's Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister Srikant Jena said. The all India CPI will be in addition to the three retail price indices -- for agricultural labourers, rural labourers and industrial workers -- prepared by the Ministry of Labour. The new nationwide CPI is being prepared by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) and is eventually expected to replace the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as the benchmark inflation. Inflation based on WPI was 6.55 per cent in January this year. The MOSPI had launched the nationwide CPI from January 2011, without quoting the inflation rate so that the data gets stabilised. The government had earlier said that CPI will "reflect the actual movement of prices at the micro-level and help policymakers like the RBI in better framing of decisions." The data for the index is collected from 310 cities and towns and over 1,180 rural centres across the country. PTI