India, Nov. 12 -- Retail inflation surged to 6.09 per cent in October, breaching the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance limit for the first time in two years and prompting economists to anticipate a policy rate hike by the RBI next month.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation rose to 5.54 per cent in September, as a sustained uptick in food & beverages (F&B), restaurant services and transport inflation played a key role in pushing up the October headline number.

Data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation showed that food inflation spiked to 8.94 per cent in October from 7.74 per cent in the previous month. Of the 12 categories, including food items and services, 11 showed hardening in inflation. R...