The Hindu Business Line : Inflation under check on cheaper food, fuel

Up & down
Primary Articles group index fell 0.4 pc
Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants group index declined 0.5 pc
Manufactured Products group index rose 0.1 pc

New Delhi , Sept. 29

The annual wholesale price index-based inflation rose 4.56 per cent during the week ended September 16, lower than the previous week's annual rise of 4.61 per cent, Government data showed on Friday. The dip in the year-on-year inflation rate was mainly on account of lower prices of food items and industrial fuels.

Vegetables dip

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities fell by 0.1 per cent to 206.3 points due to dip in prices of products such as vegetables, fruits, wool, naphtha, furnace oil and steel sheets. The inflation rate was 4.17 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year.

On a disaggregated basis, the Primary Articles group index fell 0.4 per cent to 211.1 points as prices of food and non-food items went down. The index was at 195.4 points during the corresponding week a year ago period. The Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants group index declined 0.5 per cent to 324.9 points due to lower prices of naphtha (7 per cent) and furnace oil (3 per cent). The index was at 314.6 points a year ago. The Manufactured Products group index rose 0.1 per cent to 178.1 points due to costlier food products, paper, cement, basic metals and transport parts. The index stood at 171.8 points in the year ago period.

Among the Primary Articles' group index, the index for Food Articles fell 0.6 per cent to 214.2 points due to lower prices of mutton (6 per cent), bajra, fruits and vegetables (2 per cent each), urad, jowar, maize and condiments and spices (1 per cent each). However, prices moved up for barley (3 per cent), gram and ragi (2 per cent each), moong and masur (1 per cent each).

Raw Wool lower

Non-Food Articles group index declined by 0.1 per cent to 187.7 points due to lower prices of raw wool and rape and mustard seed (1 per cent each).

Among the Manufactured Products' group, the Food Products group index remained unchanged even as prices were up for ghee (2 per cent), hydrogenated vanaspati, gur and gingelly oil (1 per cent each) while rape and mustard oil and groundnut oil became cheaper by one per cent. The Textiles Group index declined by 0.2 per cent to 132.9 points due to fall in prices of woollen cloth (22 per cent), cotton yarn-cones and tyre cord fabric (1 per cent each). However, prices were up for hessian cloth (3 per cent), hessian and sacking bags (2 per cent) and nylon filament yarn (1 per cent). A one per cent rise in newsprint prices pushed up the Paper and Paper Products group index by 0.1 per cent to 190.8 points.

Fall in epoxy resins

The Chemicals and Chemical Products group index declined by 0.1 per cent to 192.8 points following a 39 per cent fall in prices of epoxy resins. A one per cent increase in cement prices pushed up the Non-Metallic Mineral Products group index by 0.5 per cent to 189.2 points. The Base Metals Alloys and Metal Products group index rose 0.2 per cent to 233 points due to higher prices of brass sheets and strips (41 per cent), heavy rails (7 per cent), foundry pig iron and basic pig iron (2 per cent each) and lead ingots (1 per cent). However, prices declined for zinc ingots (5 per cent), pipes and tubes (2 per cent), steel sheets, plates and strips and other iron steel (1 per cent each). A one per cent drop in the prices of ceiling fans pulled down the Machinery and Machine Tools group index by 0.1 per cent to 152.7 points.

The Government revised the final inflation figure to 4.72 per cent for the week ended July 22 from provisional 4.67 per cent while the WPI stood corrected at 204.2 points compared to the earlier estimate of 204.1 points.