The Reserve Bank of India is more conscious now than before that containing inflation and boosting growth are both important for the economy, and will keep that in mind while deciding the policy rate, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Thursday.

Inflation is largely driven by food items, he said, adding, "open market sale of foodgrain is a way of cooling inflation."

The Finance Minister said India's economy has stabilised but investment cycle must start again for high growth.

He said the total capital requirement for state-run banks is 455 billion rupees ($7.6 billion) in 2014/15 fiscal year, much lower than the 113 billion rupees provided for recapitalisation in the interim budget in February.