Inflation rose for the ninth consecutive week to touch 39-week high of 6.21 per cent for the week ended January 10 with primary articles, including food products, and manufactured products becoming costlier.
The general price level, measured by wholesale price index, was up by 0.12 per cent from the previous week's level of 6.09 per cent apparently showing that no amount of assurances from the government could contain rising prices of commodities.
The point-to-point WPI inflation was 3.84 per cent in the year-ago period, thereby indicating that the basic living costs had increased by over 200 basis points.
The price movement in the last few weeks is in contrast to the Reserve Bank of India's expectation of 4-4.5 per cent by the end of this fiscal and finance ministry's hope that inflation will fall after January.
The WPI rose by 0.1 per cent to 177.9 points for the week in review due to surge in the indices of primary articles and heavy-weighted manufactured products, even as fuel prices was subdued notwithstanding uncertainties in the international arena. The index was at 167.5 points in the pervious year period.
The government revised upwards inflation to 5.42 per cent for the week ended November 15 as compared to the earlier reported provisional figure of 5.12 per cent.
The final WPI stood corrected at 177 points as against the provisional level of 176.5 points.
The index of primary articles' group rose by 0.3 per cent to 181.8 points due to costlier food articles, even as prices of non-food items fell during the week in review and the index was 173.1 points in the year-ago period.
Food articles' group index shot up by 0.4 per cent to 181.4 points due to higher prices for mutton (seven per cent), bajra (five per cent) and eggs, jowar and urad (one per cent each).
However, there was a three per cent fall in the price of fish-marine and one per cent for maize.
The index of non-food articles' group fell marginally by 0.1 per cent to 187.8 points due to cheaper soyabean (four per cent), raw silk, raw rubber and copra (two per cent each) and linseed and groundnut seed (one per cent each).
But prices rose for sunflower (three per cent) and raw cotton, tobacco and castor seed (one per cent each).
Fuel, power, light and lubricants' group index remained firm at the previous week's level of 262.2 points and the index was 241.3 points in the previous year period.
RBI had earlier cautioned that uncertainties in global oil prices might have an impact on the domestic prices but the government had indicated that oil prices may fall.
The index of manufactured products' group rose marginally by 0.1 per cent to 157.7 points due to increasing prices of food products, textiles, chemicals, machinery and non-metallic mineral products. The index was 149.1 points in the previous year period.
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