However, prices of certain other food items like vegetables and most manufactured products rose. Fuels like naphtha also became dearer.
Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index, stood at 9.13 per cent during the previous week.
Inflation fell below the 6 per cent mark, after almost seven months, to 5.78 per cent during the week ended January 1, mainly due to a fall in prices of fuels, vegetables and fruits, edible oils and other food items.
High vegetable prices were seen as one of the key reasons for the debacle the ruling Congress party faced in four of the five Assembly elections concluded last month.
It was almost 23 per cent during the second week of June, 2010.
The worst of recession could coincide with the run-up to the elections.
Inflation remained static at 7.1 per cent during the week ended October 16 despite rise in prices of fuel and manufactured products.
If you have indeed chosen your company wisely and have not paid too high a price to buy a part of it, you can indeed expect compounding to work in your favour and a great overall return over the long term. Inflation or no inflation, that would surely be a good position to be in!
Tea prices in the country could go up between Rs 10-20 a kilogram if the high level of value added tax (VAT) proposed to be levied on the commodity is not reversed, the industry has warned.
A spurt in prices of fruits, vegetables and some other items pushed up inflation to 6.09 per cent during the first week of the current fiscal, increasing pressure on interest rates ahead of the RBI's annual monetary policy on April 24.
Wholesale prices based inflation rate rose by 0.26 per cent to stand at 4.28 per cent during the week ended March 11
The surge in inflation is a major cause of concern even for giants like the United States and China and rich nations like Britain and Singapore.
Professional forecasters have added to Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvurri Subbarao's dilemma on timing the exit from an accommodative monetary policy stance.
The previous low was recorded at 5.69 per cent for the week ended February 23, 2008. The index of food articles group declined by 0.7 per cent as prices of jowar fell by five per cent, fruits and vegetables by three per cent, eggs and bajra by one per cent each.
Contrary to expectations that it might fall after a cut in petrol prices, inflation remained unchanged at 7.34 per cent during the week ended November 20
After falling for two weeks in a row, inflation once again firmed up marginally to 6.10 per cent for the week ended February 24 against 6.05 a week ago.
The inflation bogey that stalked the government earlier in the week appears to have lost force, with the wholesale price index declining to 6.05 per cent for the week ended February 17, 2007, against 6.63 per cent for the previous week.
Inflation declined further to 6.61 per cent for the week ended December 13 from 6.84 per cent in the previous week.
Tight monetary policy and various fiscal sops have failed to contain inflation as it jumped to a record level of 6.73 per cent during the week ended February 3 compared to 6.58 per cent for the previous week.
On the back of sound macroeconomic policies and softer commodity prices, India's growth momentum is likely to be sustained in 2023-24 in an atmosphere of easing inflationary pressures, said the Reserve Bank's annual report released on Tuesday. It, however, added that slowing global growth, protracted geopolitical tensions and a possible upsurge in financial market volatility following new stress events in the global financial system could pose downside risks to growth. "On the back of sound macroeconomic policies, softer commodity prices, a robust financial sector, a healthy corporate sector, continued fiscal policy thrust on quality of government expenditure, and new growth opportunities stemming from global realignment of supply chains, India's growth momentum is likely to be sustained in 2023-24 in an atmosphere of easing inflationary pressures," it said.
Tata Motors was the top Sensex loser, down nearly 5%
Essential items are 65 per cent costlier than last year; traders blame it on higher MSP, confusion in govt.
Inflation rose for the fifth consecutive week to 5.89 per cent during the week ended June 12, mainly due to rise in prices of fruits and vegetables, tea, eggs, minerals and manufactured products.
Inflation pierced the 5 per cent mark for the first time this fiscal for the week ended May 22 mainly due to a whopping 9 per cent rise in prices of vegetables and a moderate hike in the prices of other commodities like wheat, eggs and sugar.
The inflation fell for the second consecutive week, dropping by 0.06 per cent to 4.2 per cent for the week ended May 1 mainly due to cheaper vegetables, fruits, milk, maida and atta.
The reading for June WPI inflation was revised to 5.66 percent from 5.43 percent earlier.
In line with government's promise to keep commodity prices under check, inflation fell for the fourth consecutive week to 4.30 per cent for the period ended March 20, well within the 4-4.5 per cent forecast by the finance ministry.
India's wholesale price index, the inflation measure most widely followed by policy-makers and investors, does not need another revision after the release of the final number eight weeks after the provisional numbers, as more than three-fourths data are collected by then, Pronab Sen, chief statistician, Ministry of Statistics has said.
Cheaper fruits, vegetables and edible oils pushed down inflation further to 4.78 per cent for the week ended March 13 despite costlier milk, skimmed milk powder, bread and buns, and baby food.
The government said on Tuesday it is keeping a close watch on the price movements in a bid to keep inflation around five per cent.
Royal Philips Electronics is making an ultra low cost mobile handset, priced below (Rs 1000), for India and plans to launch the product sometime next year.
In spite of Governor Raghuram Rajan's repeated concerns about inflation, many think there may still be a loosening of stance.
Inflation fell substantially by 0.62 per cent to 5.32 per cent for the week ended February 28 mainly due to the fall in prices of primary items, including fruits and vegetables, and non-food articles.
Inflation rose to over three months high of 5.26 per cent for the week ended October 14, from 5.16 per cent in the previous week mainly due to increase in the prices of food and manufactured items.
A good wheat crop this season is likely to ease the near double digit inflation in the next 2-3 months, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Wednesday.
The RBI's projection for WPI inflation for this fiscal is 5.5 per cent.
Inflation fell marginally for the second consecutive week to 6.12 per cent for the week ended January 24 notwithstanding the rising prices of some food and non-food articles and majority of manufactured products.
Costlier fuels, including LPG, pushed up inflation to 5.38 per cent for the week ended December 6 -- the fourth week in a row that saw rising inflation -- even as prices of vegetables, rice and some edible oils declined.
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