Food inflation falls for 3rd successive week

Food inflation in India dipped marginally in the middle of March, falling to a five-month low, the government said. This was the third consecutive drop in food inflation in as many weeks. Inflation also fell in the Primary Articles group and Fuel group, it said. Inflation for the Food Articles group dropped to 16.22% in the week ended March 16, as compared to 16.3% in the previous week, the Commerce & Industry Ministry said. Inflation in the Non-Food Articles category too slipped to 13.06% from 13.99% in the week ended March 6. Primary Articles inflation stood at 13.88% in the week under review versus 14.16% in the preceding week. Inflation in this crucial group was at 4.91% in the corresponding week a year earlier, the government data showed. The WPI for this group rose by 0.1% to 282.3 from 282.1 in the previous week. Annual point-to-point inflation in the Fuel & Power group remained unchanged at 12.68% in the week ended March 13. It was at (-)6.06% in the week ended March 14, 2009. The WPI for this major group remained unchanged at its previous week's level of 361.7.