Industrial Output Growth Slows to 3-month Low of 2.2% in October

New Delhi: Industrial production growth hit a three-month low of 2.2 % in October this year, mainly due to subdued performance of manufacturing and mining sectors coupled with a contraction in output of consumer durables.

The factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had witnessed a rise of 4.2 % in October 2016, data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed on Tuesday.

When compared on a monthly basis, the IIP grew 4.14 % in September this year.

Industrial output rose by a meagre 2.5 % in April-October this fiscal as compared to 5.5 % in the same period of 2016-17.

In October, growth in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 77.63 % of the index, slowed to 2.5 % from 4.8 % a year earlier.

During April-October, manufacturing grew by 2.1 %, down from 5.9 % in the same period last fiscal.

Consumer durable goods output contracted by 6.9 % in October as against a growth of 1.5 % in the same month of the previous year. During the first seven months of this fiscal, the output of these goods declined by 1.9 % as against a growth of 6 % last year.

Electricity generation rose 3.2 % in October as compared to 3 % a year before. The mining activity recorded almost flat growth of 0.2 % in the month under review as against 1 % growth in October 2016.

According to use-based classification, the growth rates in October 2017 over the year-ago month are 2.5 % in primary goods, 6.8 % in capital goods, 0.2 % in intermediate goods and 5.2 % in infrastructure/ construction goods.

Consumer non-durables recorded a growth of 7.7 %.

In terms of industries, 10 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during October 2017 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

The industry group ‘Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products’ has shown the highest positive growth of 23 % followed by 12.8 % in ‘Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi- trailers’ and 9.7 % in ‘Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products’

On the other hand, the industry group ‘Other manufacturing’ has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 36.4 % followed by (-) 20.9 % in ‘Manufacture of tobacco products’ and (-) 16.1 % in ‘Manufacture of rubber and plastic products’.