Consumer prices rise by 5.5% in Oct

Rising prices of food items have pushed up the consumer price index (CPI) by 5.5% during October with Shillong recording the maximum increase.

Among the four metropolitan cities, the maximum price rise of 8.5% was witnessed in Kolkata, followed by Chennai (6.5%), Mumbai (5.4%) and Delhi (4.6%), the official data on Consumer Price Index for Urban Non-Manual Employees (CPI-UNME) showed today.

"Food, beverages and tobacco group is mainly responsible for the increase in All-India general index," a release said.

Shillong recorded the maximum increase of 14.9% during the month.

Urban centres where the price rise during the month was minimum were Mangalore and Nagpur (each 2.9%).

The average consumer price rise - measured at 59 urban centres - was 5.5% in October, much higher than about 3% increase in wholesale prices, according to the latest WPI figures released by the government.

As compared to September 2007, the average price index moved up by four points to 520 during the month.