Sky rocketing prices of onions and other vegetables which was a hot topic of discussion till a few weeks back, pushed wholesale inflation to an eight-month high of seven per cent in October 2013.
The inflation measured on the wholesale price index (WPI) was at 6.46 per cent in September 2013 and had stood at 7.32 per cent in October 2012.
As per the Government data which came out on Thursday, rate of price rise in food articles was at 18.19 per cent in October.
The figures are bad news for the common man, who has been struggling to deal with high prices of such commodities which form a crucial part of the everyday menu in millions of households across the country.
Moreover the issue is also going to be a decisive factor in the forthcoming assembly elections in five states, including Delhi.
The jump in WPI inflation comes after the October retail inflation increased to 10.1 per cent, the highest in the past seven months.
While inflation in the vegetable segment stood at 78.38 per cent in October, the rate of price rise in onion continued to remain high at 278.21 per cent.
Protein rich items like egg, meat and fish became dearer by 17.47 per cent against 13.37 per cent in September.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had earlier this week described the food inflation as “worryingly high”.
The central bank has increased the key rate twice in its last two monetary policy reviews with an aim to check high inflation.
As per the data, while there was slight moderation in prices of cereals and rice, wheat became dearer in October. The inflation in wheat was at 7.88 per cent last month as against 5.9 per cent in September.
It further showed inflation in the manufactured products inching up to 2.5 per cent versus 2.03 per cent in September.
The WPI data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) further revealed that inflation in the primary articles segment also inched up to 14.68 per cent in October from 13.54 per cent in the previous month.
Inflation in fuel and power segment, at the wholesale level, too was marginally up at 10.33 per cent.
“Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 6 per cent compared to a build up rate of 4.66 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year,” the DIPP said.
Meanwhile, the WPI inflation for the month of August has been revised upwards to 6.99 per cent from the earlier estimated 6.1 per cent.