India: Potato Prices Fall 11.5% Year on Year as Food Inflation Climbs to 7.74%
Potato prices in India fell 11.5% year on year in September 2026 even as food inflation accelerated to 7.74%, with onion and garlic prices surging instead.
Potato prices in India were 11.5 per cent lower in September 2026 than a year earlier, according to Consumer Price Index data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on October 12. The decline came even as overall food inflation accelerated to 7.74 per cent.
Headline retail inflation rose to 5.54 per cent in September from 4.83 per cent in August, a sixth consecutive monthly increase. The reading remains within the Reserve Bank of India’s 2–6 per cent tolerance band but moves further above its 4 per cent target.
Within the food basket, movements diverged sharply. Onion prices more than doubled year on year, with annual inflation of 108.09 per cent against 48.78 per cent in August. Garlic inflation climbed to 54.62 per cent and lemon to 36.41 per cent. Potatoes moved the other way: the September reading of minus 11.50 per cent follows minus 13.15 per cent in August — at least two consecutive months of double-digit annual declines. Tomatoes were 8.62 per cent cheaper than a year earlier.
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Wholesale mandi data point the same way. Average potato prices in Indian mandis stood at about Rs 766 per quintal in late July, roughly 32 per cent below the same week of 2025, according to Ministry of Agriculture figures based on Agmarknet data. More recent market reports describe potato prices declining further — by more than 6 per cent — even as onion prices spiked, FreshPlaza reported on October 13.
Rural households felt the squeeze most. Rural inflation reached 6.08 per cent in September, well above the urban reading of 4.88 per cent, and the Consumer Food Price Index accelerated from 5.97 per cent in August.
For potato growers, the numbers confirm a second season of weak returns: cheap potatoes ease household budgets but compress farm-gate margins ahead of the rabi planting window, which in the main northern belts runs through October and November. Traders are watching whether low prices slow market arrivals or push more volume into cold storage in the coming weeks.
The figures are official index readings rather than farm-gate price series; realised prices vary by market and quality.
Source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation CPI release, October 12, 2026, via Free Press Journal · ChartForest CPI analysis · Agmarknet mandi data via Agro Spectrum India · FreshPlaza. Read the CPI coverage here: https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/india-retail-inflation-rises-to-554-in-september-as-food-prices-surge
