Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said rising inflation, primarily due to dearer food items, is a matter of concern.
"This (rising inflation) is a matter of concern," he told reporters.
"There is an inflationary pressure particularly in the food items. Even the wholesale prices have gone up substantially, about 19 per cent inflation (food)," he said.
Inflation, according to the monthly data released today, shot up from 1.34 per cent in the previous month to 4.78 per cent in November, registering a more than three-fold rise.
Mukherjee further said the rise was more evident in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) than in the WPI as "food items have higher weight in CPI, whether it is for industrial workers or it is for the rural labour".
Food articles have a weight of about 43-48 per cent in the CPI, the minister added, pointing out the difference in the two indices.
The CPI-based inflation for industrial workers rose by 11.49 per cent in October, up from 11.64 per cent a month ago.