New Delhi: Cheaper primary articles, including food and non-food items, and cooking gas pushed inflation further down to 5.11 per cent during the week ended March 19.

The point-to-point 'wholesale price index' (WPI) inflation fell by 0.12 per cent from the previous week's level of 5.23 per cent despite costlier vegetables. It stood at 4.53 per cent in the year-ago period.

The WPI, however, stood unchanged at the previous week's level of 189.1 points with heavy-weighted manufactured items becoming costlier. It was 179.9 points in the year-ago period.
Government revised upwards inflation to 5.43 per cent during the week ended January 22 as against the provisional estimate of 5.37 per cent. WPI stood corrected at 188.5 points during the third week of January as against provisional figure of 188.4 points.

After remaining unchanged in the previous two weeks, the index for Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants' group declined by 0.7 per cent to 287 points mainly due to six per cent fall in the prices of LPG and two per cent for bitumen even as prices rose for lubricants (five per cent) and naphtha (four per cent). The index was 262.6 points in the year-ago period.

Manufactured Products' group index was up 0.2 per cent to 168.6 points due to costlier beverages, tobacco, textiles, paper, chemicals, basic metals, machinery and transport parts. The index was 161.2 points in the previous year period.