"I think it clearly remains uncomfortable because of food inflation. Core inflation is still quite modest. I think the food inflation must come down," Ahluwalia told reporters here.

"I would certainly hope that on the supply situation will improve due to the decision to offload certain stock taken earlier (by the government). Some seasonal spikes in few items will get corrected," he added. Costlier food items, including vegetables, pushed the October wholesale inflation to 7 percent, the highest in the current financial year.

The inflation measured on the wholesale price index (WPI) was 6.46 percent in the previous month and 7.32 percent in the October 2012. As per the government data released today, rate of price rise in food articles segment was at 18.19 percent in October.

The jump in WPI inflation comes after the October retail inflation increased to 10.1 percent, the highest in the past seven months. WPI inflation is on the rise for the last few months.

While inflation in the vegetable segment stood at 78.38 percent in October, the rate of price rise in onion continued to remain high at 278.21 percent. Protein rich items like egg, meat and fish became dearer by 17.47 percent in October as against 13.37 percent in the previous month.

The data has revealed that inflation in the manufactured products has inched up to 2.5 percent versus 2.03 percent in September.

PTI