Foreign Direct Investment down 11 percent

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India fell 11 percent on year to $15.3 billion in the first six months of fiscal 2009/10, the trade minister said, as the global financial downturn clipped flows. India had received $17.2 billion in FDI in the corresponding period last year

Food price index up 15.58 percent

India's food price index was up 15.58 per cent in the 12 months to November 14, while the fuel index was down 1.51 per cent.

The worst dry spell in nearly four decades and floods in parts of the country have hurt farm output and pushed up food prices.

On Tuesday, C Rangarajan, Chairman of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Economic Advisory Council, said that food price inflation was the biggest worry for the economy in near term and a strong rise in food prices could prompt monetary action.

India's annual wholesale inflation rose 1.34 per cent in October from a year earlier, compared with 0.5 per cent in September and 11.06 per cent a year ago.