The consumer price index (CPI) data for March and the factory output data or the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for February will be released today by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

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Here are the key expectations:

CPI Data

In a poll conducted by CNBC-TV18, March retail inflation is expected to harden to 2.99 percent on month compared to 2.56 percent in February.

Food deflation has reduced significantly to a negative 0.6 to a negative 2.17 percent on a monthly basis in February. In March, the food deflation is expected to come in around 1 percent on the back of the rise in vegetable prices.

Fuel and power inflation is also likely to rise due to a gain in liquified petroleum gas (LPG) prices. Petrol and diesel prices have also risen by about 1-2 percent.

Economists are expecting a significant movement in the core inflation on account of petrol and diesel prices.

IIP Data

Analysts on an average expect the February Index of Industrial Production (IIP) or factory output data to rise to 2.35 percent as compared to 1.7 percent in January.

Manufacturing, mining, electricity — which constitutes the core sector and accounts for 40 percent of the IIP — is likely to rise to 2.1 percent versus 1.5 percent in January. The improvement in the core data is mainly due to mining activities and coal production.

Other high-frequency indicators such as automobile sales have been sluggish. As per the Federation Of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), February saw a drop of 8 percent in passenger vehicle sales.

The Nikkei Manufacturing PMI was at a 14-month high in February at 54.3