With three per cent hike in the steel prices, the overall inflation is likely to move up. The rise is expected to have a cascading effect on the prices of automobiles, consumer durables. It is also expected to push up the cost of constructing houses and infrastructure projects. State owned Steel Authority of India Limited, SAIL, has increased steel prices by one thousand rupees per tonne. The hike was on account of an increase in input costs. Private sector firms such as Tata Steel and JSW have also hiked prices. The increase in steel prices also comes at a time when international oil prices have soared. The public sector oil companies have been forced to hike petrol prices. Rise in prices of diesel and LPG has been kept on hold by the government but the subsidy bill will turn out to be much higher. According to experts, high commodity prices have started translating into higher prices of manufactured goods, which is bound to push up the country's headline inflation. The government was expecting overall inflation to come down to 5.5 per cent in March this year. However, Chief Econnomic Adviser Kaushik Basu now expects that it will be between six to seven per cent. He however said that it was a manageable level.