Rains Impacting Kharif Crops, Food Inflation to be Affected: SBI Research

Unseasonal rains in parts of India in October may have a large negative impact on food inflation in the coming months, said SBI Research in its latest Ecowrap report.

These unseasonal rains, the report said, are "affecting Kharif crops significantly".

Kharif crops are mostly sown during monsoon - June and July, and the produce is harvested during October and November.

"In states like Uttar Pradesh, the unseasonal rain was more than 400 per cent above the normal. Overall, India has received a staggering 54 per cent above normal rains in October so far," it said.

It believes that along with grains, the prices of vegetables, milk, pulses and edible oils, which account for over a quarter of the overall Consumer Price Index, are rising and likely to remain high in coming months.

Against that backdrop, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has called for an additional and out-of-turn monetary policy meeting on November 3.

The meeting has been called under the provisions of Section 45ZN of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act 1934, RBI said in a statement on Thursday.

This section of the RBI Act pertains to steps to be taken if the central bank fails to meet its inflation-targeting mandate.

(with inputs from ANI)

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