In numbers: Gold, silver, mobile bills, airfare to pinch Indian wallets

Prices of non-food items squeeze Indian wallets; unlikely to decrease significantly in the coming months

Aug 04, 2025, 12:35 IST1 min

1/3

Inflation in precious metals and ornaments remained high. Beer prices also showed a significant spike, which is notable for a commodity whose inflation has largely remained under 4% since April 2023. In comparison, railway fare, family planning devices and household appliances saw a considerable drop in prices in June. "FMCG companies have started increasing prices after holding on for the last 2 years," says Madan Sabnavis, chief economist Bank of Baroda.

Image by Forbes

2/3

While prices of fuel and light have largely remained lower than headline inflation in the past year, it marginally exceeded retail inflation in June. Experts believe that since the Q1 inflation figures are close to the RBI’s forecast (revised to 2.9% for Q1FY25), a further downward revision of inflation for FY26 is unlikely. “Even if there is a change made this time, it may not be really significant and be not more than 0.1-0.2%,”says Sabnavis.

Image by Forbes

3/3

While a majority of the households do not expect prices of non food items to ease in the coming months, experts believe that overall inflation is expected to remain low in July due to the base effect before rising sequentially.

Image by Forbes