IIP up 2.7% in May

Backed by election spending and stimulus measures, India's industrial growth continued to be in the positive zone with factory production expanding by 2.7 per cent in May, showing signs of recovery in the economy.

However, economists warned that going forward monsoon could play truant; already processed food production is down 14.7 per cent in May and 27.2 per cent in the first two months of this fiscal.

Though industrial growth in May was down from 4.4 per cent a year ago, it was quite encouraging as it was more than double the 1.2 per cent in April, when growth turned positive after being in negative territory almost every month since October 2008.

For the first two months of this fiscal, industrial growth was 1.9 per cent compared to 5.3 per cent a year ago. "(Industrial growth is) showing a further improvement. ... I think we are back on track as was expected," Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said.

Others also said the worst in terms of slow growth is over. "I have been saying and others are saying that the worst is over. The real question is how rapidly we will resume growth," Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.