Food inflation fell sharply by 2 percentage points to 10.3 per cent for the week ended November 6 from 12.3 per cent in the previous week. The decline in food inflation has raised hopes that overall inflation may decline to around 6 per cent by the end of the year, as predicted by the government.Inflation had stood at 13.99 per cent in the corresponding period last year. This is the first time in a long time that food inflation for a particular period was lower than the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.The decline may also give a relief to the RBI on its monetary tightening drive to boost industrial growth, which had fallen to a 16-month low of 4.4 per cent in September.The price of most food items declined during the week on improved availability after the end of the monsoon. Even onions, which have become quite expensive due to crop damage in the major producing state of Maharashtra, rose by just 0.63 per cent during the week under review.Earlier this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had exuded confidence that overall inflation will come down to 6 per cent by the end of this year.