New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) India's food inflation slipped for the third successive week to 8.28 percent for the week ended April 2 as the prices of vegetables and other food items slipped, official data showed Friday.

Food inflation was recorded at 9.18 percent for the week ended March 26.

Limited data on the wholesale price index released by the commerce and industry ministry also showed a decline in the index for primary articles, from 12.97 percent in the week before to 11.4 percent for the week under review.

The fuel index too dipped to 12.97 percent, compared to 13.13 percent in the previous week.

Rise in general price level, especially in essential food items, has been a major concern for households as well as policy makers in the country for over one-and-a-half years now.

The Reserve Bank of India has adopted an aggressive monetary tightening policy to tame inflation. The central bank raised key policy rates for the eighth time in almost a year during its monetary policy review last month. However, it has failed to bring down the inflation to desired levels.

The following are the yearly rise and fall in prices of some main commodities that form the sub-index for food articles:

Onions: 7.74 percent

Vegetables: 5.41 percent

Fruits: 2.11 percent

Potatoes: (-) 2.73 percent

Milk: 4.05 percent

Eggs, meat, fish: 11.02 percent

Cereals: 3.49 percent

Rice: 2.2 percent

Wheat: (-) 1.05 percent

Pulses: (-)4.76 percent