Inflation Time Machine India
Convert a rupee amount between any two years using India's official CPI inflation series, with the purchasing power lost in between.
About this tool
Inflation Time Machine India
Convert a rupee amount between any two years using India's official CPI inflation series, with the purchasing power lost in between.
The Inflation Time Machine India restates a rupee amount in the money of a different financial year by chaining India's published annual average all-India CPI (Combined) inflation rates into a price index. It runs in both directions — forward to show what an old salary or price would need to be today, and backwards to express a current figure in older money — and reports cumulative inflation, the compound average annual rate and the share of purchasing power lost. Because a single consistent rural-plus-urban index only exists from FY 2011-12, the series starts there rather than splicing on the older and non-comparable CPI-IW.
How to use Inflation Time Machine India
- 1
Open Inflation Time Machine India on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
- 2
Enter the 'Amount (INR)' and choose the year it belongs to under 'In the money of financial year'.
- 3
Choose the target year under 'Restate into financial year'; years beyond the published series are marked (projected) and use the 'Assumed inflation after FY 2024-25 (%)' rate.
- 4
Read cumulative inflation, average annual inflation, purchasing power lost and the 'CPI index used' pair on FY 2011-12 = 100, then press 'Copy result'.
Why use Inflation Time Machine India
Official series, not guesses
Uses published annual average CPI (Combined) inflation rather than a single flat assumption.
Works both ways
Inflates a past amount to today or deflates a present amount into any earlier year.
Honest about its limits
Marks projected years separately and refuses to splice incompatible pre-2011 indices.
Common use cases
- Checking whether a salary that has risen from FY 2014-15 to today has actually kept pace with prices or only looks bigger.
- Restating an old project cost or property price into current rupees before comparing it with a new quotation.
- Setting a retirement or education target by projecting today's expense forward at an assumed rate anchored to the 4% policy target.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate what an old rupee amount is worth today?
Multiply the amount by the ratio of the two years' price indices: value_today = amount x index_today / index_then. Using the CPI (Combined) series, Rs 10,000 of FY 2011-12 money is worth roughly Rs 20,700 in FY 2024-25 money, because the index roughly doubled over those thirteen years.
What has average inflation in India been over the last decade?
Around 5% to 6% a year on the CPI (Combined) measure. The compound average from FY 2011-12 to FY 2024-25 works out near 5.8%, with the highest readings above 9% in FY 2012-13 and FY 2013-14 and the lowest around 3.4% in FY 2018-19.
What is India's official inflation target?
4% consumer price inflation, with a tolerance band of 2 percentage points either side, so 2% to 6%. The target is notified by the Central Government under section 45ZA of the Reserve Bank of India Act and is what the Monetary Policy Committee is mandated to achieve.
Why does this tool not go back before 2011?
Because the all-India CPI (Combined) series on base 2012 = 100 begins then, and it is the first index covering both rural and urban households. Older series such as CPI-IW measure a different basket for a different population, so chaining them onto CPI (Combined) would produce a number that looks precise but is not comparable.