NEW DELHI, March 12 -- India's retail inflation firmed up to 3.21% in February, hit by the rise in prices of food and beverages, clothing and housing and utility services, according to provisional data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation on Thursday.

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data can't be compared with the year-ago period due to the reset of the index basket in January. Retail inflation was recorded at a revised 2.74% in January, marking the debut for the new series with 2024 as the base year.

Food inflation under the new series stood at 3.47% in February, up from 2.13% in January. Housing inflation stood at 2.12% last month against 2.05% in January.

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