Food inflation at 15.46 pc on costlier cereals and milk

Week on week, food inflation climbed 0.36 percentage points from 15.10 per cent on September 4.

This is the fourth consecutive week that the rate of food prices has risen, although signs of moderation had appeared in July and stayed on through the first half of August.

Many parts of the country including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and the desert state of Rajasthan have been witnessing torrential rains that have disrupted supplies of staples.

Annually, cereals prices rose 6.75 per cent driven mainly by higher prices of pulses, rice and wheat.

While prices of pulses rose 4.01 per cent, wheat and rice became costlier by 9.21 per cent and 5.52 per cent, respectively.

Among other food items, milk prices soared 23.41 per cent during the week compared to the same period last year, while that of fruits by 10.33 per cent.

Vegetables also became dearer by 6.84 per cent on an annual basis, while potato and onions became cheaper by 48.56 and 1.97 per cent, respectively.