India's wholesale prices up 0.79 percent year-on-year in May

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's wholesale prices rose a faster-than-expected 0.79 percent in May from a year earlier, mainly driven by higher food prices, government data showed on Tuesday.

The data compared with a 0.42 percent annual rise forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In April, prices rose a provisional 0.34 percent, their first gain in 18 months.

Wholesale food prices last month rose 7.88 percent year-on-year, compared with a provisional 4.23 percent gain in April.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Malini Menon)