Food inflation fell to 16.30 per cent for the week ended March 6 on easing prices of pulses and vegetables, but fuel inflation shot up to 12.68 per cent.
For the previous week, food inflation was at 17.81 per cent and fuel inflation at 11.38 per cent.
Vegetable prices showed a marked decline of more than 10 per cent over the week, followed by about 4 per cent fall in prices of pulses. Urad and arhar prices was down 6 per cent each during the week.
However, the easing in food prices has been marred by rising fuel inflation giving no respite to the overall inflation that has been consistently rising since it came out of sub—zero levels in September last year.
The fuel index comprising fuel, power, light and lubricants saw an inflation of 12.68 per cent over the week led by 16.82 per cent inflation in petrol prices and 14.99 per cent in diesel prices.
The rise in fuel prices is as a result of the budgetary announcement of a hike in excise and customs duty on petrol and diesel.
The overall inflation has risen to 9.89 per cent for February from a low of 1.34 per cent in October last year, primarily led by high food prices.
Overall the inflation has already breached the RBI’s projection of 8.5 per cent for the fiscal-end in January when it touched 8.56 per cent.
