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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Food Inflation in India to Climb on Labor, Energy Costs, Commission Says by Prabhudatta Mishra and Pratik Parija

Food Inflation in India to Climb on Labor, Energy Costs, Commission Says by Prabhudatta Mishra and Pratik Parija

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published Published on May 20, 2011   modified Modified on May 20, 2011

Food-price inflation in India, Asia’s third-largest economy, may accelerate in the second half as farmers are paying 20 percent more to grow crops, according to the commission that helps set minimum farm-product prices.

“The cost of production is going up very fast,” Ashok Gulati, chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “The labor cost has gone up dramatically in the past one year and energy costs are also going up.”

A pickup in food prices would add to inflationary pressures in India, where the central bank has raised interest rates nine times since mid-March 2010. The commission, which recommends the rates at which the government buys crops from farmers to prevent distress sales in the open market, will include an average 20 percent gain in production costs this year, Gulati said.

“If the government announces higher minimum-support prices of crops, they put upward pressure on prices,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Mumbai-based CARE Ratings, which grades the creditworthiness of Indian companies. “The benchmark prices in the market go up.”

Inflation in India has been above 8 percent for 16 months, with the wholesale-price index increasing 8.66 percent in April. Farm-product wholesale prices rose 7.47 percent in the week to May 7 from a year earlier, the trade ministry said yesterday. Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on May 18 that inflation needs to be curbed to boost economic growth.

Oil’s Rally

Global food costs gained to a record in February after grains, meat and cooking oils surged, according to a United Nations’ gauge. Crude oil inNew York has rallied 46 percent over the past 12 months, trading today at $98.98 per barrel.

To protect the poorest, India’s central government both sets minimum prices of crops to assure farmers of their income, and sells subsidized grains and cooking oils. The government may announce this year’s minimum prices of monsoon-sown crops -- which include rice, lentils, corn and oilseeds -- in the next 10 days, Gulati said.

“We are not out of the woods as yet as far as food inflation is concerned,” Gulati said. “We try to assure farmers a 20 to 30 percent increase over the cost of production,” he said.

Food-price inflation at present is being driven by costlier fruits, vegetables, milk, animal products and eggs, Gulati said. The cost of farm products can be lowered by increasing farmers’ productivity with good-quality seeds and irrigation, he said.

‘Bring It Down’

“Inflation is high and we need to bring it down,” Reserve Bank Governor Subbarao told reporters on May 18. Inflation will stay at an “elevated level” until September, the central bank said on May 3, noting that “persistently high food prices are likely to exert sustained upward pressure on wages.”

India’s economy may grow 8.2 percent in 2011 from 10.4 percent last year, the International Monetary Fund said on April 28. The economy may grow as much as 9.25 percent, the finance ministry said in February.

Monsoon-sown crops are planted from next month, with harvesting starting in October. The annual weather pattern, which accounts for more than 70 percent on India’s rainfall, may reach Kerala on May 31, the weather bureau said on May 13.


Bloomberg, 20 May, 2011, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/food-inflation-in-india-to-climb-on-labor-energy-costs-commission-says.html


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