India's food price inflation has returned to double-digits, fuelled by surging onion prices, official data showed Thursday, adding to pressure on the scandal-hit Congress government. Food inflation jumped close to three percentage points to 12.13 percent for the week ending December 11 from the same period a year earlier, according to commerce ministry figures.
The government, wary of the potential political fallout from soaring onion prices, has gone on a virtual war footing to bring down the cost of the vegetable, an Indian dietary staple and known as the "poor man's food." "I am afraid there has been some upward movement of food items," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters, adding "one of the reasons may be the high price of onions for which we have already taken steps." Prices of onions jumped more than 33 percent from a year earlier while fruit, eggs, meat and fish leapt 20 percent. Prices of other vegetables climbed 16 percent.
The government, already on the defensive over a multi-billion-dollar telecom corruption scandal, has eliminated customs duty on onions as part of its moves to cut prices of the vegetable. Onions are being trucked in from neighbouring Pakistan, where they cost a fifth of the price, in a bid to cool domestic prices.