Inflation up on food prices

India's benchmark inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), rose slightly in the first week of September as against expectations of a decline, due largely to rising prices of a few essential food articles, the Government said. The annual, point-to-point inflation increased to 12.14% in the week ended September 6, as against 12.1% in the previous week, the Commerce & Industry Ministry said in a statement. Inflation was expected to fall in a range of 11.9-12.07%. The annual rate of inflation stood at 3.46% as on September 8, 2007. The WPI for All Commodities rose by 0.1% to 241.1 from 240.8 in the previous week.

The index for Primary Articles gained 1% to 251.7, with the index for Food Articles group rising by 1.4% to 240.6 due to higher prices of fruits & vegetables (6%), urad and wheat (3% each) and mutton (1%). The annual rate of inflation for Primary Articles stood at 11.27% in the week ended Sept. 6. It was 6.65% in the comparable period last year. The annual rate of inflation for Food Articles was 6.32% versus 4.91% a year ago. The Government revised the inflation rate for the week ended July 12, to 12.13% from the provisional estimate of 11.89%. The WPI for the same period stood revised at 239.5 compared to the earlier forecast of 239.0.