New Delhi: The annual wholesale price (WPI) index touched a four-year high of 8.33 per cent for the week ended August 28 against an inflation rate of 8.17 per cent registered the previous week.

According to the data released by the Central Statistical Organisation yesterday, the year-on-year inflation rose largely due to a rise in the index for fuel and power, even as the prices of primary articles went up marginally.

The index of the primary articles'' group, which has a 22 per cent weightage in the index, was up by 0.1 per cent to 192.9 points due to a rise in prices of both food and non-food articles. An 11 per cent hike in the price of naphtha and four per cent rise in furnace oil prices pushed up the index for the fuel, power, light and lubricants group, which has a 14.23 per cent weightage in the WPI basket, by 0.6 per cent.

Among the primary articles, which carry a weight of 22.02 per cent in the WPI basket, the index of the food articles group was up marginally by 0.1 per cent to 189 points due to higher prices for eggs (three per cent), fish-inland and arhar (two per cent each) and urad, barley and masur (one per cent each).

Prices dipped in the case of bajra (three per cent), condiments and spices, maize and fruits and vegetables (one per cent each). The index of the non-food articles group was up 0.2 per cent to 195.4 points

The food products group index rose by 0.3 per cent to 175.6 points due to higher prices for rice bran oil, baby food and gur (two per cent each) and groundnut oil, salt, imported edible oil, maida, sugar, sunflower oil, gingelly oil and atta (one per cent each). Prices dipped for unrefined oil and rape and mustard oil (two per cent each) and coffee powder, soyabean oil, butter, ghee, khandsari and cattle feed (one per cent each).

The index for the textiles group was up 0.1 per cent to 138.8 points due to higher prices for hessian and sacking bags and hessian cloth (three per cent each) and polyster staple fibre and polyester yarn (one per cent each).