The Reserve Bank of India may need to perform "a careful balancing act" if it is to keep rising food prices in check without "choking off" the supply response to changing market demand, according to Deepak Mohanty, an executive director at the central bank.

Mohanty told an audience at St. Xavier's College in Mumbai that as per capita income has increased in India, the demand for food has shifted towards protein, fruits and vegetables. "As [the] supply response has not been adequate, there have