New Delhi, Jan. 30 -- India is getting a new framework to measure retail inflation. Starting January 2026, the country will shift to an updated Consumer Price Index (CPI) that better reflects how Indians spend their money today.

The new index, which will use 2024 as its base year, is built on spending patterns captured in the 2023-24 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), noted the statistics ministry on Thursday.

The revamped CPI expands the number of major spending categories from six to 12, offering a more detailed picture of household consumption. The old "miscellaneous" group in the 2012 series, which accounted for everything from health to entertainment to personal care, has been broken into several other smaller divisio...