Food inflation continued to be in double digits during the week ended October although it dipped marginally to 11.81 per cent, official data showed on Friday.
Food inflation had risen to the highest level in nine months last week at 12.21 per cent. It's been a month since food inflation breached the double digit levels.
Prices of pulses, vegetables and milk and poultry rose.
PM says food inflation sign of growing prosperity The spike in food inflation in the four weeks of October, for which data is available, has been attributed to a rise in demand as the month had many important festivals, raising demand.
Overall inflation too has remained stubbornly high, near double digits, since January 2010.
Headline inflation based on the wholesale price index was recorded at 9.72 per cent in September, according to the latest official data.
To contain inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has hiked key interest rates 13 times since early 2010, but the frequent tightening has not had much impact on soaring prices.
The central bank, in its last rate hike, said that it may not take such an action further because it expected inflation to fall from December.
Rising interest rates has been one of the main reasons, says industry, for a slump in industrial output. In September, the index of industrial production (IIP) rose by a sluggish 1.9 per cent, while for the half year this fiscal it grew by only 5 per cent.
In the week under review, the primary articles index, which has a 20.12 per cent weight in the wholesale price index, rose by 11.43 per cent during the week under review as compared to 12.08 per cent in the previous week, according to data made available by the commerce and industry ministry.
During the week ended Oct 29, the index of fuel and power remained unchanged at 14.5 per cent, while the index for non-food articles declined marginally to 6.41 per cent.
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