Factory output slows marginally to 4.9% in March

India's industrial production growth slowed marginally to 4.9 per cent month-on-month in March 2024, mainly due to poor show by the mining sector, according to official data released on Friday.

The factory output growth, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was 5.6 per cent in February 2024.

However, it was 1.9 per cent in March 2023.

For the fiscal 2023-24, IIP growth touched 5.8 per cent against 5.2 per cent in the preceding financial year.

India's Index of Industrial Production grew by 4.9 per cent in March 2024, according to a statement by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.

As per the latest data, the mining output growth decelerated to 1.2 per cent in March against a 6.8 per cent expansion in the year-ago month.

The manufacturing sector's growth accelerated to 5.2 per cent in March compared to 1.5 per cent a year ago.

The power generation increased by 8.6 per cent in March against a contraction of 1.6 per cent in the same month of the last year.

As per use-base classification, the capital goods segment growth fell to 6.1 per cent in March 2024 from 10 per cent in the year-ago period.

In March this year, consumer durables output expanded 9.5 per cent. It had contracted by 8 per cent in March 2023.

Consumer non-durable goods production grew by 4.9 per cent during the month compared to a contraction of 1.9 per cent in March 2023.

According to the data, infrastructure/construction goods reported a growth of 6.9 in March 2024 against a 7.2 per cent expansion in the year-ago period.

The data also showed that the output of primary goods logged 2.5 per cent growth in March this year, down from 3.3 per cent a year earlier.

The expansion in the intermediate goods segment was 5.1 per cent in the month under review, higher than the 1.8 per cent recorded in the same period a year ago.