NEW DELHI, May 12 -- India's retail inflation is expected to have eased further to 3.2% in April, from 3.34% the previous month, according to a Mint poll of 21 economists. The continued softening in food prices has kept retail inflation below the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) medium-term target of 4% since February. If the projections prove correct, this would be the longest streak of easing in inflation in at least the past five years. Economists polled by Mint projected Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation would be in the range of 2.8-3.5% in April, with four of them expecting it to fall below 3%. The official data is to be released on May 13. "The moderation in inflation pressures is led by a continued month-on-month decline in food prices, albeit at a more moderate pace. Daily food prices show a continued decline in prices of vegetables, cereals and pulses," IDFC First Bank said in a note. Food inflation, which accounts for 40% of the inflation basket, cooled to 2.69% in March, its lowest since November 2021. Vegetable inflation, which entered the deflation zone in February after double-digit growth in all but one month between November 2023 and January 2025, is mainly responsible for bringing the headline figure down. Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes food and fuel, has been rising since January. It had been below 4% since December 2023, but rising commodity prices, especially gold, have pushed it beyond 4% in the past two months....