New Delhi, April 13 -- India's retail inflation climbed to 3.4% in March from 3.21% in February due to a rise in prices of food and beverages, along with surging energy prices fuelled by the West Asia war, according to provisional data released by the government on Monday. It was at

The number is in line with the consensus of 16 economists polled by Mint. They had pegged India's retail inflation at 3.4% for March.

The latest CPI data is not strictly comparable 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.

The March inflation numbers are still below the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) 4%...