After threatening to reach almost 20% few months back, food inflation has now subsided to its four-month low of 16.22% during the week ended March 13. This drop has largely been due to expectation of good rabi harvest that is likely to aid higher production of pulses, wheat and also some key vegetables.
Farmers said winter rains in some major potato and onion growing states has also helped in stabilising the prices. So also is the case in sugar, where prices have come down from a high of almost Rs 47 per kg in some cities to around Rs 34 to Rs 36, at present.
An analysis of prices of six main food items in 10 major cities across the country as collated by the department of consumer affairs in the Government of India shows that while retail price of tur dal has fallen in most parts of southern India. It has marginally gone up during the week ending March 29 in western India .
In Mumbai, retail prices of tur dal have climbed by 7.9% from March 22 to March 29, in Ahmedabad it has gone up by 3.3%. In other cities, it has largely remained unchanged during the week. Wheat prices have gone up by 10.5% in Thiruvananthapuram during the week.
Overall, prices of most commodities under study like rice, potato and sugar have either remained unchanged or moved down marginally, a trend which is expected to accentuate after the full rabi harvest starts coming into the market.