Cheaper food items, including vegetables and fruits, brought down the India's Consumer Price Index or CPI marginally month-on-month in December 2011.
The CPI, based on retail prices, declined to 113.9 points during the month from the 114.4 points in November, as per data releasedy the government Wednesday.
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistics & Programme Implementation Srikant Jena said, "This broad based index reflects the changes in the prices of goods and services consumed by the rural and urban population. The annual inflation rates would be available at the time of release of indices for January 2012."
The indices for January are scheduled to be released on February 21.
At the all-India level, the CPI for 'food, beverages and tobacco' in December fell by one percent to 112.8 points from 114.3 points in the previous month.
The main drop witnessed in the prices of vegetables, with the index fell by 15 percent month-on-month to 98.5 points, while the index for fruits declined by four percent to 122.2 points. Similarly, the index for condiments and spices fell by one percent to 123.9 points.
In December, the CPI for 'clothing, bedding and footwear' stood at 122.2 points on an all-India basis, compared to 121.5 points in November, an increase of around one percent.
In addition, the prices in the 'fuel and light' segment rose marginally in December vis-a-vis the previous month, with the index inching up to 120.0 points from 119.6 points in November.
The index for 'Housing' in December stood at 112.2 points, up by one percent from 110.9 points in November. This is the sixth month that housing prices were factored into the CPI data. However, the data was compiled only for urban areas.
The government earlier said house rent was negligible for the rural areas, and as such, only urban areas were taken into account for the index on housing.
The index for 'Miscellaneous' was flat at 112.8 points on a countrywide basis in the month under review, compared to 112.7 points in the previous month.
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