India's wholesale price inflation rate falls to 7.48 per cent in November

Even as food prices rule the roost, India's annual rate of inflation edged lower by over a percentage point to 7.48 per cent in November 2010 from 8.58 per cent in October 2010 despite a spurt in the weekly food price inflation rate towards the month-end.
 
The annual rate of inflation based on wholesale price index (base : 2004-05=100) stood at 7.48 per cent (provisional) during November 2010 against 8.58 per cent (provisional) in the previous month and 4.50 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year.

Build-up of inflation in the financial year so far (beginning 1 April 2010) was 4.79 per cent against 7.47 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

WPI for the `primary articles' group rose 0.8 per cent to 182.6 (provisional) during November 2010 from 181.2 (provisional) in the previous month.

Among primary articles, the index for the 'food articles' group rose 0.1 per cent to 180.2 (provisional) during the month from 180.1 (provisional) in the previous month, due to higher prices of egg (13 per cent), tea (4 per cent), barley and fish-marine (3 per cent each), maize, beef and buffalo meat and pork (2 per cent each) and poultry chicken, gram and fruits and vegetables (1 per cent each). However, the prices of urad (-10 per cent), moong (-8 per cent), arhar (-5 per cent), fish (-4 per cent), bajra and jowar (-3 per cent each), masur and mutton (-2 per cent each) and milk and wheat (-1 per cent each) declined.

The index for the 'non-food articles' group rose 3.9 per cent to 167.7 (provisional) during November 2010 from 161.4 (provisional) in the previous month, due to higher prices of logs and timber and flowers (35 per cent each), raw jute (18 per cent), niger seed (13 per cent), raw rubber (10 per cent), safflower (9 per cent), fodder (8 per cent), coir fibre (7 per cent), copra (6 per cent), sunflower (4 per cent), raw cotton and castor seed (2 per cent each) and gingelly seed and raw silk (1 per cent each). However, the prices of groundnut seed (-8 per cent), gaur seed and mesta (-4 per cent each) and linseed and cottonseed (-1 per cent each) declined.

The index for the `fuel, power, lights and lubricants' group rose 0.3 per cent to 148.6 (provisional) from 148.1 (provisional) in the previous month due to higher prices of light diesel oil (5 per cent), aviation turbine fuel (4 per cent) and petrol, furnace oil and naphtha (1 per cent each).