The below than average rain in the monsoon has caused the food inflation to rise high by 17.47% in the week ended November. But no change has been recorded in the fuel index.

The Kharif crop, which was badly affected by the low rains, caused the food prices to spiral up. Inflation for the Primary Articles index rose to 12.53% in the week under review, from 11.04% in the week ended November 14.

This might cause Reserve bank of India to raise the rates.

The Chairman of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Economic Advisory Council, Mr. C. Rangarajan has earlier been raising concerns that if not controlled, the increasing food prices might lead to inflation and can necessitate a need to take monetary action.

The index for Non-Food Articles rose by 0.3 per cent to 239.5 from 238.9 for the previous week due to rise in the prices of raw rubber, copra and cotton seed by 2% each and groundnut seed, raw silk and gingelly seed by 1% each. However, the prices of fodder increased by 7% and castor seed declined by3%.

The annual rate of inflation for this category stood at 0.00 per cent over the corresponding week of last year as compared to -1.51 per cent for the previous week and 5.28 per cent during the corresponding week in the year 2008.