Food inflation in India surges to 9.13 per cent

Food inflation in India surged to 9.13 per cent for the week ended September 17 from 8.84 per cent in the previous week, mainly due to a rise in prices of potatoes, pulses and poultry. While prices of onions eased marginally during the week, gram, masoor, arhar, urad and poultry rates firmed up on an annual basis, as per Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data released by the government today. Potato prices, too, firmed up by about 15 per cent on an annual basis. However, as a whole, inflation in the fruit and vegetable segments eased during the week under review vis-a-vis the same period last year. In the week ended September 10, food inflation had declined to 8.84 per cent from 9.47 per cent in the previous week. 'These fluctuations are taking place and it is one of the areas of grave concern,' Mukherjee told reporters, adding, '(Food inflation)... is perilously close to double digits.' As per the WPI data, inflation in cereals, milk, eggs, meat and fish also eased to 13.17 per cent during the week under review. Overall, inflation in primary articles stood at 11.43 per cent for the week ending September 17, compared to 12.17 per cent in the previous week. Primary articles constitute over 20 per cent of the WPI basket. Non-food articles, which include fibres, oil seeds and minerals, recorded 12.89 per cent inflation during the week ended September 17, down from 17.42 per cent in the previous week. Meanwhile, inflation in the fuel and power segment went up to 14.69 per cent during the week ended September 17 from 13.96 per cent in the previous seven-day period. Headline inflation, which factors in manufactured items, fuels and non-food primary items, in addition to food commodities, stood at a 13-month high of 9.78 per cent in August. The Reserve Bank has already hiked policy rates 12 times since March, 2010, to tame demand and curb inflation. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today described the latest rise in food inflation toward the double-digit mark as an area of 'grave concern'. 'Food inflation has gone up and it is perilously close to double digits... Food prices are an area of major and grave concern,' he told reporters here.