New Delhi: The inflation in the food items, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), shot up by 9.9 percent in March as against 8.12 percent in the previous month.
The overall WPI inflation, which was on decline since December, had dropped to a nine-month low of 4.68 percent in February.
As per the data released by the government on Tuesday, the January inflation number has been revised upward to 5.17 percent as against earlier estimate of 5.05 percent.
In March, price rise in potato was 27.83 percent as against 8.36 percent in the previous month. Inflation in onion was 1.92 in the last month of 2013-14 fiscal compared to contraction in price of the kitchen staple in the previous month.
Overall the inflation in vegetable segment was 8.57 percent as compared to about 4 percent in February. Fruits were costlier by 16.15 percent in March compared to 9.92 percent.
The government further said the build up of inflation rate in the 2013-14 financial year was 5.70 compared to a build up rate of 5.65 percent in the earlier fiscal. The data further revealed that prices of sugar, pulses, cereals, cement and minerals eased in March compared to the previous month.
Inflation in the fuel and power category (LPG, petrol and diesel) rose to 11.22 percent versus 8.75 percent in February.
Later in the day, government is also scheduled to release data for retail inflation calculated on Consumer Price Index (CPI).
In the monetary policy review earlier this month, the Reserve Bank had retained the key interest rate expecting rise in inflationary expectations.
