POLL-India annual inflation seen at 1.64 pct on Oct 24

* What: India's wholesale price index as on Oct. 24

* When: Expected around midday (0630 GMT) on Thursday

* Forecast: 1.64 pct annual rise vs 1.51 pct a week earlier

By Boby Michael

MUMBAI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - India's annual inflation rate is
forecast to have edged up to 1.64 percent as at Oct. 24 from
1.51 percent a week earlier, with food prices expected to have
risen marginally, a Reuters poll of 20 analysts showed on
Wednesday.

Analysts said higher fuel and manufactured goods prices
could contribute to WPI inflation in the weeks ahead.

"We expect the prices of fuel and manufactured goods to
push up the rate of inflation in the coming months, while food
prices should see a seasonal moderation in November and
December," said Sonal Varma, an economist at Nomura.

The food articles index in WPI rose an annual 12.85 percent
as on Oct. 17, slower than 13.34 percent in the previous week.

The monthly consumer price inflation was at 11.64 percent
for September little changed from 11.72 percent a month
earlier, government data showed last week.

The central bank has said the divergence in CPI and WPI
rates was mainly due to a sharp rise in food prices, which have
higher weightage in CPI.

The central bank raised its fiscal year-end projection of
wholesale price inflation to 6.5 percent with an upward bias
from 5 percent at a policy review last month, although most
analysts expect it to be above 7 percent. [ID:nDEL485971], al

The WPI data is expected around noon (0630 GMT) on
Thursday. It is more closely watched than the consumer price
index, which contains fewer items.

The Indian cabinet last month approved switching over to
monthly release of wholesale inflation data from its current
weekly format to capture the prices of manufactured goods more
accurately and in line with global practices. [ID:nDEL7531]

The government also said it would change the base year to
2004 from 1993/94 currently, likely from Nov. 14.

WPI Forecasts: (percentage change from a year earlier)
--------------------------------------------------
RESPONDENT RATE (IN PCT)
--------------------------------------------------
NOMURA 1.80
NIPFP 1.76
ICICI SECURITIES PD 1.72
KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK 1.68
DUN & BRADSTREET 1.68
STCI PD 1.64
STANDARD CHARTERED 1.64
NCDEX 1.64
MF GLOBAL 1.64
IDBI GILTS 1.64
CALYON 1.64
AXIS BANK 1.64
ANAND RATHI SECURITIES 1.64
INDICUS ANALYTICS 1.59
HDFC BANK 1.59
DBS 1.59
BANK OF BARODA 1.59
ABN AMRO 1.59
YES BANK 1.51
ICICI BANK 1.47
----------------------------------------
MEDIAN 1.64
AVERAGE 1.63
-----------------------------------------
(Additional reporting by Mumbai Treasury; Editing by Malini
Menon)