Retail inflation in India eased to 2.05% in January compared to 2.11% in December, according to government data released on Tuesday.

The Consumer Price Index inflation rate for rural areas stood at 1.29%, while it was 1.50% in December 2018. In urban areas, the inflation rate was 2.91%, the same as in December.

The Consumer Food Price Index declined to 2.17% in January. In rural areas, food prices fell 2.80% and in urban areas, it fell by 0.96%. The food price inflation rate in November had declined to 2.65%.

The prices of vegetables declined 13.32% while prices of sugar and confectionery dropped 8.16%. Prices of health related goods increased 8.93% while education related goods rose by 7.99%.

Industrial production grew 2.4% in December as compared to 7.3% in the corresponding period in 2017-’18, according to the data released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Tuesday. The cumulative growth for the period April to December 2018 over the corresponding period of the previous year stood at 4.6%.

The manufacturing sector grew 2.7% in December, while electricity sector grew 5.5%. Growth in the mining sector declined 1%.

Thirteen out of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed positive growth in December compared to the same month the previous year.

In November, industrial production grew 0.5% compared to the same month in 2017. This was the slowest rate of growth since June 2017.