Data due at 1200 GMT, April 12

BENGALURU, April 8 Reuters India39;s consumer price inflation likely eased to a fivemonth low of 4.91 in March but was still above the Reserve Bank of India39;s 4 mediumterm target as food price rises persist, according to economists polled by Reuters.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said last week that food price volatility remains a concern. Food price rises have outpaced headline inflation for several months, affecting millions of poor households already heavily dependent on government food subsidies.

Consumer price inflation likely eased to 4.91 in March from February39;s 5.09, an April 48 Reuters poll of 50 economists predicted. Forecasts for the data, which will be released on April 12, ranged from 4.57 to 5.35.

We estimate that CPI inflation moved markedly lower…The disinflation is broadly attributed to easing in momentum across food, fuel and core items, though some base effects also helped, noted Shreya Sodhani, analyst at Barclays.

Inflation was expected to return to the RBI39;s target next quarter but be above it in subsequent quarters, according to a separate Reuters survey on the longerterm outlook.

Meanwhile, the onset of a heat wave could hamper the inflation downtrend in coming months.

Radhika Rao, senior economist at DBS Bank said potential supplyside shocks were the main risk, while strong growth limits the need for additional support from monetary policy levers for the time being.

The economy grew 8.4 in the…