After nine-weeks of continuous rise, inflation fell marginally to 6.13 per cent for the week ended January 17, but public continued to pay higher prices for essential commodities with primary articles like fruits and vegetables, milk and many manufactured items like edible oils becoming costlier.
The wholesale price index inflation fell by 0.08 per cent from the previous week's figure of 6.21 per cent and the extent of rise in living cost was 4.42 per cent in the year-ago period.
WPI rose by 0.2 per cent to 178.2 points due to surge in the indices of primary articles and manufactured products even as fuel prices remained firm for the second consecutive week and the index was 167.9 points in the previous year period.
The fall in inflation is in line with the government's expectation since it said necessary steps would be taken to contain the cost of living. The Reserve Bank of India had, however, said downward bias in inflation might be difficult because of the contagion effect of rising prices of commodities globally and oil price uncertainties in international markets.
The government had to revise upwards the point-to-point WPI inflation to 5.48 per cent for the week ended Novemnber 22 as compared to provisional figure of 5.24 per cent.
The final WPI stood corrected at 177.1 points during the third week of November as against the provisional level of 176.7 points.
The index of primary articles' group rose by 0.4 per cent to 182.6 points mainly due to rise in prices of non-food items and minerals, even as prices of many food articles' remained firm and the index was 174.5 points in the year-ago period.
Food articles' group index was unchanged at previous week's figure of 181.4 points even as prices rose for masur (two per cent) and fruits and vegetables (one per cent each). Prices, however, dipped for bajra and poultry chicken (six per cent each), ragi and coffee (five per cent each) and gram, urad and tea (one per cent each).
The index of non-food articles' group shot up by 1.6 per cent to 190.8 points due to higher prices for sugarcane (seven per cent), soyabean and castor seed (two per cent each) and cotton seed, raw jute and niger seed (one per cent each). But prices fell for raw rubber (three per cent), safflower (two per cent) and raw skins, sunflower, raw silk, mustard seed and copra (one per cent each).
Minerals' group index was up by 0.7 per cent to 117.1 points due to costlier ochre (71 per cent), stealite (eight per cent), bauxite (seven per cent), chromite (five per cent), barytes (four per cent) and magnesite (one per cent).
However, there was 29 per cent decline in the price of fire clay and three per cent for gypsum.
The index of fuel, power, light and lubricants' group was unchanged at 262.2 points and it was 241.8 points in the year ago period.
Manufactured products' group index, which is the heaviest of all in the WPI basket, rose by 0.1 per cent to 157.9 points due to increase in the price of food products, chemicals, basic metals and transport equipment and the index was at 149.2 points in the previous year period.
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