1 week ago

India’s Service Prices Diverge as Air Passenger Inflation Surges

The Indian government measured price changes for seven types of services.

Air passenger services became much more expensive than a year earlier, with prices rising almost 32 percent.

Pension fund management prices also increased, but by 5.20 percent.

Banking services were still cheaper than a year earlier.

Securities transaction prices also fell compared with the previous year.

Insurance and telecom prices changed only a little.

Railway passenger inflation stayed at 3.50 percent.

The government plans to add more sectors to this measurement system.

It eventually intends for producer-price data to help replace wholesale-price inflation figures.

Key facts

Covered services: Banking, securities transactions, insurance, pension management, railways, air passenger services and telecom
Air passenger inflation: 31.94% year on year in Q1 FY27
Air passenger index: 126.4 in Q1 FY27; one report compared it with 106.9 in Q4 FY26, while another said no sequential comparison was provided because the sector’s reference period was FY26
Highest other increase: Pension fund management prices rose 5.20% year on year
Banking services: Price inflation was -3.35%, improving from -4.10% in Q4 FY26; the banking contribution index rose 6.90% year on year
Railway services: Overall railway service inflation was 1.27%, while railway passenger inflation remained at 3.50%
Index framework: The indices use 2022-23 as the base year and currently lack aggregate weights because the seven services do not cover the entire services sector
Planned change: The government plans to expand the Service PPI and gradually use it in place of Wholesale Price Index-based inflation figures over the next five years

thehansindia.com · 1 week ago

livemint.com · 1 week ago

freepressjournal.in · 1 week ago