Inflation in Indian states: Manipur is costliest, Sikkim is cheapest

Rising inflation has been a constant thorn in the flesh for Indian economic policymakers and something the Opposition regularly uses as a stick to beat up the government with. In October, retail inflation made the headlines yet again, rising to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent, while food inflation was a whopping 10.87 per cent.

This rate is, of course, an average, and the states experience price rise at their own varying rates. So, which are cheapest states in India to live in and which are the costliest? Here are some numbers to shed some light on inflation rates in the various Indian states.

Interactive map

Click on each state on the interactive map below to know the state-wise numbers.

Manipur, an aberration in East

A brief analysis of the figures throws up a very interesting picture of eastern India, the North East in particular. It has some of the lowest inflation rates in India, even as the strife-torn Manipur teeters on the edge with an inflation rate of 9.69 per cent — the highest in the country.

Bordering Nagaland and Mizoram have figures well below 5 per cent and so do Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, while Assam and Tripura are slightly costlier with figures above 5.5 per cent.

Its natural beauty aside, the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim is perfectly liveable with an inflation rate below 4 per cent. West Bengal, with its capital Kolkata often lauded as the cheapest of the big metros, scores well on the inflation front, with a figure of 4.63 per cent, on par with most of the North East.

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Price rises in Hindi belt

As we go further west, into the Hindi heartland, the inflation figures jump drastically, with both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh crossing the 7 per cent mark — Bihar nearly touching 8 — and Chhattisgarh nearly touching 9 per cent.

The heart of India, Madhya Pradesh, is equally expensive, with inflation at 7.03 per cent. Odisha differs from the rest of the eastern states with a high score of 7.51 per cent, while only Jharkhand has a slightly moderate rate of 5.53.

Barring the National Capital Region of Delhi — which has one of the lowest figures of 4.01 per cent — most states in the North have inflation figures ranging from 5.5 per cent to well above 6 per cent, Haryana being the costliest at 6.76 per cent and Jammu & Kashmir (including Ladakh) being the cheapest with 5.5.

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Goa, cheapest in West

In western India, the popular beach destination of Goa, accused of charging arbitrarily high prices from tourists recently, scores the lowest on the inflation front. Barring its 4.67 per cent rate, on a par with much of eastern India, the rest of the states in the region score well above 5 per cent.

While Maharashtra has the lowest price rise rate of 5.38 per cent, the Union territory of Daman & Diu is surprisingly costly at 7.28 per cent, while Gujarat and Rajasthan have moderate scores of around 6 per cent.

Also read: Inflation leaves Indian middle class, and its buying capacity, shrinking

Moderate South

Coming to southern India, all the five states — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana — and the Union territory of Puducherry have moderate inflation rates, ranging from the lowest of 5.5 per cent in Telangana to the highest of 6.47 per cent in Kerala.

It is interesting that the eastern coast seems slightly more expensive than its western counterpart, barring Kerala.

But if you truly want to protect your bank balance, you now know exactly where to shift, if you possibly can. Pack your bags and get a posting in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal or the matching seaside haven of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.

The sun, the sand, the sea…and an inflation rate of 2–3 per cent! What better can one ask for!