New Delhi: India's annual rate of inflation, based on wholesale prices, rose sharply to 4.78 per cent in November from 1.34 per cent in the previous month, mainly on account of a 16.71 per cent jump in prices of food articles.

The annual inflation rate was 8.48 per cent during the like month last year, reports IANS.

Data on the official wholesale price index released on Monday showed that over the past year, prices of potatoes year-on-year increased over 101 per cent while onions and pulses have become dearer by 32.41 and 35.22 per cent, respectively.

Similarly, vegetables have become costlier by 16.92 per cent, rice by 12.95 per cent, wheat by 12.66 per cent, milk by 11.49 per cent and fruits by 10.64 per cent, showed the statistics released by the Industry Ministry.

During the 12-month period under review, the index for manufactured products was up 1.2 per cent while that for fuels, the other major commodity group, declined marginally due to lower prices of light diesel oil (3 per cent) and naphtha (2 per cent)

As per a decision taken by the cabinet, the data on official wholesale price index is now released only on a monthly basis, with the practice of releasing weekly updates scrapped in a bid to curb "volatility" in the markets.

The Reserve Bank of India and the government have warned India's annual inflation rate based on wholesale price index for all commodities will rise to 6-6.5 per cent by March, while the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has pegged the rate at 6 per cent.