The annual rate of inflation went down marginally to 6.16 per cent for the week ended April 19 from 6.47 per cent the previous week. The inflation rate was 1.37 per cent during the corresponding period last year.

The Wholesale Price Index fell 0.2 per cent to 172.3 points during the week. The index was 162.3 in the corresponding period last year.

The final WPI stood corrected at 169.9 for the week ended February 22 as compared to the provisional level of 168.9 and the final inflation was 5.53 per cent against the provisional mark of 4.91 per cent.

A moderate fall in the prices of food, non-food articles and minerals made the index for primary articles' group dip 0.2 per cent to 179 points from the previous week's figure of 179.4. The index was 168.3 a year ago.

Owing to a slide in the prices of diesel and petrol there was a 1.7 per cent fall in the domestic fuels group index.

The index for the food articles' group fell 0.2 per cent to 179.4 as prices dipped for jowar and fish-marine (2 per cent each) and rice, eggs and condiments and spices (1 per cent each).

But there was a rise of 1 per cent each for bajra, maize, ragi, gram and arhar. The non-food articles' index fell 0.2 per cent to 182.9 on account of a price fall in groundnuts seed (3 per cent), niger seed (2 per cent) and rape and mustard seed (1 per cent).

Prices, however, rose for raw silk and castor seed (8 per cent each), cotton seed and sunflower (2 per cent each), and raw cotton seed and linseed (1 per cent each).

The minerals' group index declined 0.3 per cent to 118.6 owing to cheaper barytes (24 per cent) and magnesite (16 per cent), while prices rose for fire clay (87 per cent), fluorite (2 per cent) and phosphorite (1 per cent).

The index for the fuels, power, light and lubricants group fell 1.7 per cent to 251.9 due to a 14 per cent fall in the price of naphtha, 8 per cent in furnace oil, 5 per cent in high speed diesel oil and 3 per cent in petrol.

The food products' group index rose 0.6 per cent to 159.4 owing to costlier atta (9 per cent), gingelly oil (4 per cent), oil cakes and cattle feed (2 per cent each) and gur and khandsari (1 per cent each), but there was a 2 per cent price fall in sooji (raw) and 1 per cent in solvent extracted groundnut oil.

The textiles' group index rose 0.1 per cent to 128.3 owing to costlier other woolen cloth (9 per cent), woolen cloth (5 per cent) and polyester staple fibre (3 per cent) but prices dipped for polyester yarn (6 per cent) and hessian and sacking bags (1 per cent).

The basic metals, alloys and metal products' group index was up 0.1 per cent to 150.6 due to the higher prices of ferro silicon (5 per cent) and brass sheet strips (2 per cent), even as the price of aluminium foils dipped 1 per cent.