Inflation rises to 5.92 percent

New Delhi, Mar 20: The headline inflation rate for the week ended March 8 rose to 5.92 per cent, compared to its previous week's level of 5.11 per cent. The annual inflation rate was 6.51 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year, an official statement said.

The index for 'Manufactured Products' group rose by 1.3 per cent to 193.2 (Provisional) from 190.7 (Provisional) for the previous week. The index for 'Food Products' group rose by 0.6 per cent to 199.2 (Provisional) from 198.0 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of cotton seed oil (10 per cent), gingelly oil (five per cent), imported edible oil (four per cent), coconut oil and rape and mustard oil (three per cent each), rice bran oil (two per cent) and groundnut oil (one per cent).

The index for 'Textiles' group declined by 0.1 per cent to 128.2 (Provisional) from 128.3 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of hessian and sacking bags and hessian cloth (one per cent each).

The index for 'Paper and Paper Products' group rose by 0.1 per cent to 195.3 (Provisional) from 195.1 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of newsprint (one per cent).

The index for 'Chemicals and Chemical Products' group rose by 0.1 per cent to 209.0 (Provisional) from 208.7 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of p v c resins and benzene (six per cent each) and purified terephthalic acid (pta) (five per cent).

The index for 'Basic Metals Alloys and Metal Products' group rose by 6.7 per cent to 267.5 (Provisional) from 250.7 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of blooms and billets and slabs (30 per cent each), wire (all kinds) (25 per cent), skelps (23 per cent), oromild steel and tensile plates (20 per cent), cr coils (19 per cent), angles, channels and sections and cr sheets (13 per cent each) and bars and rods (three per cent).

The index for 'Machinery and Machine Tools' group declined by 0.1 per cent to 168.1 (Provisional) from 168.2 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of power driven pumps (three per cent).

The index for 'Transport Equipment and Parts' group rose by 0.2 per cent to 171.3 (Provisional) from 171.0 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of other automobile spare parts (four per cent) and motorcycles (one per cent).

UNI