IIP growth rises to 9-month high of 4.3 pc in August
Industrial production grew at a nine-month high of 4.3 per cent in August, mainly on account of robust performance of mining and power sectors coupled with higher capital goods output, official data showed on Thursday.
Factory output growth measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at 4 per cent in August 2016, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The previous high in IIP growth was recorded at 5.7 per cent in November 2016.
IIP growth during April-August period of this fiscal stood at 2.2 per cent, down from 5.9 per cent in same period in 2016-17.
Meanwhile, the July IIP number was revised to 0.94 per cent from 1.2 per cent provisional estimates released last month.
The output growth in manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the index, however decelerated to 3.1 per cent in August from 5.5 per cent a year ago.
The output of the mining and electricity sectors grew at 9.4 per cent and 8.3 per cent as compared to August 2016.
As per use-based classification, the growth rates in August 2017 over August 2016 are 7.1 per cent in primary goods, 5.4 per cent in capital goods, (-) 0.2 per cent in intermediate goods and 2.5 per cent in infrastructure/construction goods.
The consumer durables and consumer non-durables sectors recorded growth of 1.6 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively.
In terms of industries, 10 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during August 2017.
The industry group 'Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products' showed the highest positive growth of 24.9 per cent, followed by 16.5 per cent in 'pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products’ and 11.1 per cent in 'other transport equipment’.
On the other hand, the industry group 'Manufacture of furniture' showed the highest negative growth of (-) 16 per cent, followed by (-) 15.1 per cent in 'tobacco products' and (-) 11.4 per cent in 'Printing and reproduction of recorded media'.
Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
