Inflation shot up to 7.51 per cent, the highest in the last two years, due to soaring prices of vegetables and manufactured products.

The point-to-point Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation shot up by 1 per cent to cross 7.5 per cent during the week ended July 24. In the year-ago period, it stood at a mere 4.27 per cent.

The soaring inflation comes amidst assurances from Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who had recently said that all steps would be taken to check it.

However, fuel prices, which had been hiked twice recently, stood static at the previous week's level, even as prices of primary articles, including vegetables and fruits, skyrocketed.

The WPI rose by nearly 1 per cent to 186.2 points during the latest reported week. It was 173.2 points in the previous year period.

'Primary articles' group index shot up by 3 per cent to 191 points owing to a steep rise in the prices of food items and non-food articles. Mineral prices too more than doubled during the latest reported week.

'Food articles' prices rose by over 1 per cent to 185.9 points due to costlier vegetables (5 per cent), fruits, jowar and condiments and spices (3 per cent each), bajra, barley and urad (2 per cent each) and milk, ragi, masur, gram, rice, maize and moong (1 per cent each).

But there was a 1 per cent decline in the price of eggs.

The index of 'non-food articles' group rose by 0.2 per cent to 194.9 points due to higher prices of castor seed (4 per cent), sunflower and rape & mustard seed (2 per cent each) and linseed, fodder and groundnut seed (1 per cent each).

However, prices declined for raw rubber (3 per cent), gingelly seed and raw silk (2 per cent each), copra, tobacco and raw cotton (1 per cent each).

A whopping 189 per cent rise in the price of iron ore led to 107.1 per cent rise in the index of minerals to 304.2 points.

The 'fuel, power, light and lubricants group index' remained unchanged at the previous week's level of 274.4 points despite the hike in the prices of petroleum products in recent weeks. The index was 249.4 points in the year ago period.

The index for 'manufactured products' group shot up by 0.3 per cent to 164.9 points due to rise in prices of food items, textiles, paper, leather, chemicals, non-metallic minerals and transport equipment. The index was 154 points a year ago.