Industrial output grows 4.5% in February; highest in 7 months

India's industrial production grew at the fastest pace in seven months at 4.5 per cent during February, mainly on account of uptick in mining and manufacturing activity as well as power generation, official data showed on Thursday.

Factory output, as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had recorded a growth of 0.2 per cent in February 2019. It had registered a growth of 4.9 per cent in July 2019.

The production contracted by 1.4 per cent in August, 4.6 in September and 6.6 per cent in October last year. It grew 2.1 per cent in November and 0.1 per cent in December 2019 and 2.1 per cent in January 2020.

 

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Last month, provisional data showed IIP growth of 2 per cent in January, 2020.

According to a data by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the manufacturing sector output grew at a rate of 3.2 per cent in February compared to a contraction of 0.3 per cent in the same month a year ago.

Electricity generation increased by 8.1 per cent as against a growth of 1.3 per cent in February 2019. Mining sector output surged by 10 per cent compared to a growth of 2.2 per cent earlier.

The IIP growth during April-February period of the last fiscal decelerated to 0.9 per cent from 4 per cent expansion in the same period of 2018-19.

The data for February showed that production of capital goods, a barometer of investment, shrunk by 9.7 per cent as compared to a contraction of 9.3 per cent in the corresponding month of the previous year.

As per use-based classification, primary good registered a growth of 7.4 per cent, intermediate goods 22.4 per cent, and infrastructure/construction goods 0.1 per cent in February 2020 as against the same period a year ago.

The consumer durables output fell 6.4 per cent, while non-durables remained flat.

In terms of industries, 13 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth in February 2020.

The industry group 'Manufacture of basic metals' has shown the highest positive growth of 18.2 per cent followed by 8.0 per cent in 'Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products' and in 'Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products', as per the data.

On the other hand, the industry group 'Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers' has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 15.6 per cent followed by (-) 14.8 per cent in Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products', and (-) 9.9 per cent in Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment.

Industrial production shrinks for 3rd consecutive month, falls 3.8% in Oct

Showing signs of economic slowdown, Industrial production shrank for third consecutive month in October by 3.8 per cent, mainly due to output fall in manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors, as per official data released on Thursday.

According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) data, the factory output declined by 4.3 per cent in September and 1.4 per cent in August this year, while it grew at 4.9 per cent in July.

Factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had expanded by 8.4 per cent in October 2018.

During April to October, the IIP growth remained almost flat at 0.5 per cent compared to 5.7 per cent in same period previous fiscal.

The manufacturing growth rate declined by 2.1 per cent in October as compared to 8.2 per cent a year ago.

Power generation growth slipped sharply by 12.2 per cent in October, compared to 10.8 per cent in the year-ago period.

Mining output too fell 8 per cent in the month under review as against 7.3 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Capital goods production, which is a barometer of investment, declined by 21.9 per cent in October compared to 16.9 per cent rise in the year-ago month.

As per use-based classification, the growth rates in October 2019 over October 2018 are (-) 6 per cent in Primary goods, 22.2 per cent in Intermediate goods and (-) 9.2 per cent in Infrastructure/ Construction Goods.

The consumer durables and consumer non-durables have recorded growth of (-) 18 per cent and (-) 1.1 per cent, respectively.

In terms of industries, 18 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during October 2019 as compared to the same month last year.

The industry group 'manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products' has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 31.3 per cent followed by (-) 27.9 per cent in 'Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers'.

On the other hand, the chemicals and its products have shown the highest positive growth of 31.8 per cent followed by 9.4 per cent in basic metals.