The Hindu Business Line : Inflation up on costlier food, manufactured items

Up & down
Prices rose for sunflower (11%), raw rubber, safflower (8%), fire clay (57%) & barytes 17 per cent.
Rates declined for steatite (17%) & vermiculite (5%)

New Delhi , Jan. 5

The annual wholesale price index-based inflation rose 5.48 per cent during the week ended December 23, higher than the previous week's annual rise of 5.43 per cent.

The increase in the year-on-year inflation rate was mainly on account of a surge in some food and manufactured product prices, Government data showed on Friday.

Fuel index down

The wholesale price index (base 1993-94), on which the inflation data is based, rose 0.1 per cent to 208 points during the week ended December 23 from 207.8 points during the previous week. Inflation was at 4.62 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous year.

On a disaggregated basis, the Primary Articles' group was up 0.3 per cent at 212.4 points.

The heavyweight Manufactured Products' group was up 0.2 per cent to 181.2 points while the Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants' group was down 0.3 per cent at 321.6 points during the latest reported week.

Among the Primary Articles' group, the Food Articles' index saw an increase following a surge in prices of several commodities, with bajra, maize and fish marine became dearer by two per cent each, while prices of wheat and ragi moved up by one per each. However, prices of jowar, moong, barley, urad and gram declined by one per cent each.

Fire clay flares up

Prices of sunflower rose by 11 per cent, raw rubber and safflower by eight per cent each and linseed and raw tobacco by three per cent each.

However, the prices of raw jute and copra fell by one per cent each.

Among minerals, fire clay rose by 57 per cent, barytes by 17 per cent, magnesite by five per cent and iron ore by one per cent. Prices of steatite declined by 17 per cent and vermiculite by five per cent.

Among the Manufactured products' group, prices of food items including non-blended black tea leaf rose by 18 per cent and rice bran oil, oil cakes and imported edible oil by two per cent each. However, the prices of processed tea fell by six per cent and sugar by one per cent.

In other categories of manufactured items, prices of enamelled copper wires rose by 31 per cent, barrels by seven per cent, zinc by four per cent and aluminium foils by three per cent.

Prices of plastic containers fell by six per cent, lead ingots by three per cent and zinc ingots by two per cent.

Among the Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants' group, prices of electricity declined by one per cent.

The Government also revised inflation to 5.35 per cent for the week ended October 28 from the provisional estimate of 5.09 per cent.

This follows revision in wholesale price index to 208.9 points, against 208.4 points estimated in the provisional data.