WPI inflation accelerates to 5.79% in July

India's headline inflation accelerated to 5.79 percent in July, the fastest pace in five months, mainly driven by higher food prices and costlier imports as the rupee fell to a record low, government data showed on Wednesday. July's reading was way higher than the 4.94 percent rate estimated by analysts in a CNBC-TV18 poll.

The wholesale price index -- India's main inflation measure -- rose an annual 4.86 percent in June. July core inflation came in at 2.4 percent compared to 2 percent in the previous month.
As per official data released today, WPI inflation in the food articles category rose to double digits at 11.91 per cent, driven mainly by price rise in onion, cereals and rice. The rate of price rise in food articles, which has a 14.34 per cent share in the WPI basket, was at 9.74 per cent in June.
The inflation in the food articles category rose for the third straight month. Inflation in onion shot up by 145 per cent in July on an annual basis. It has risen by 114 per cent in the previous month as against the same period last year. Vegetables prices too went up by 46.59 per cent during the month, from 16.47 per cent in June.
Inflation in the manufactured items category showed a marginal rise to 2.81 per cent in July, from 2.75 per cent in June. The non-food articles category, which include fibre, oil seeds and minerals, saw a decline in inflation to 5.51 percent, from 7.57 per cent in June. Inflation in rice stood at 21.15 per cent in July, against 19.11 per cent in the previous month. Also cereals prices rose to 17.66 per cent from 17.18 per cent in June.
The reading for May was revised to 4.58 percent from 4.7 percent, data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed. MORE NUMBERS

• Food Articles Inflation At 11.91% Vs 9.74% (MoM)
• Food Articles Index Up 3.4% (MoM)
• Primary Articles Inflation At 8.99% Vs 8.14% (MoM)
• Primary Articles Index Up 2.7% (MoM)
• Manufactured Pdts Inflation At 2.81% Vs 2.75% (MoM)
• Manufactured Products Index Up 0.6% (MoM)
• Fuel & Power Group Inflation At 11.31% Vs 7.12% (MoM)
• Fuel & Power Group Index Up 3% (MoM)
• All Commodities Index Up 1.6% (MoM)
• Non-food Articles Index Up 0.9% (MoM)
• Minerals Group Index Up 1.1% (MoM)

(With inputs from PTI)