New Delhi, Dec 13 (KNN) India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI)- based inflation rose to 5.55 per cent in November from 4.87 per cent in October, denoting a three-month high, as per a data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Tuesday.

This is due to a spike in prices of onion led a rather broad-based rise in food inflation.

However, the latest print being at the lower end of the forecasts by analysts and the continued moderation of core inflation to a 44-month low of 4.1 per cent, would offer comfort to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The government has recently taken a host of steps to boost supply of food items, including wheat, sugar and onion. The central bank in the December monetary policy statement unveiled last week had anticipated “an increase in prices of key vegetables which may push CPI inflation higher in the near-term.”

Separate data released on Tuesday showed factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose to a 16-month high of 11.7 per cent in October from 6.2 per cent in September, aided by a favourable base, and a rise in manufacturing output amidst festive demand.

Inflation in onions was at a 38-month high of 86.46 per cent in November, which pushed vegetables inflation to 17.7 per cent during the month from 2.70 per cent in October. The massive increase in onion prices are a consequence of fresh kharif harvest arriving late in the market.

However, the prices of onions are likely to cool off towards December end partly aided by ban on the exports of the staple vegetable imposed last week, easing inflationary pressures. As on Tuesday, retail prices of onion were down 6 per cent on month.

(KNN Bureau)