New Delhi, Feb 15 : India's annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices sequentially rose to 2.03 per cent in January from a rise of 1.22 per cent in December. In contrast, the January inflation rate last month was lower on a year-on-year basis. "The rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at (2.03 per cent) (provisional) for the month of January, 2021 (over January, 2020) as compared to 3.52 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year," a Ministry of Commerce and Industry statement on WPI said. On a sub-segment basis, prices of primary articles, which constitute 22.62 per cent of the WPI's total weightage, deflated further to (-)2.24 per cent from (-) 1.61 per cent in December. It had increased on a faster pace in January 2020 at 10.01 per cent. However, the WPI food index declined to (-) 0.26 per cent from 0.92 per cent reported for December 2020. /IANS