Cheaper food items, including fruit and vegetables, pulled down the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by 0.44 per cent month-on-month in December 2011.
The CPI, based on retail prices, stood at 113.9 points in December compared to 114.4 points in November, as per data released by the government on Jan 18.
The fall was mainly on account of cheaper vegetables which saw a dip of 15.01 per cent month-on-month to 98.5 points. The fruit index also fell by 3.78 per cent to 122.2 points.
Similarly, the index for condiments and spices went down by 0.64 per cent to 123.9 points.
However, CPI for clothing, bedding and footwear stood higher at 122.2 points on an all-ndia basis, against 121.5 points in November.
However, the data for housing was compiled only for urban areas.
The price of miscellaneous items rose by 0.09 per cent in December vis-a-vis November, as per the CPI data, with the index for this segment rising to 112.8 points on a countrywide basis in the month under review from 112.7 points in the previous month.
