India's factory output slips to 3-month low of 5% in April

India's industrial production growth slipped to 3-month low of 5 per cent in April 2024, mainly due to poor show by the manufacturing sector, though mining and power segments performed well, according to official data released on Wednesday.

Factory output growth, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was 5.4 per cent in March and 5.6 per cent in February 2024.

The previous low of IIP was recorded at 4.2 per cent in January, 2024.

For the fiscal 2023-24, IIP growth was 5.9 per cent against 5.2 per cent in the preceding financial year.

India's Index of Industrial Production grew by 4.6 per cent in April 2023, according to a statement by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.

As per the latest data, the mining output growth accelerated to 6.7 per cent in April against a 5.1 per cent expansion in the year-ago month.

The manufacturing sector's growth decelerated to 3.9 per cent in April compared to 5.5 per cent a year ago.

The power generation increased by 10.2 per cent in April against a contraction of 1.1 per cent in the same month of the last year.

As per use-base classification, the capital goods segment growth fell to 3.1 per cent in April 2024 from 4.4 per cent in the year-ago period.

In April this year, consumer durables output expanded 9.8 per cent.

It had contracted by 2.3 per cent in April 2023.

Consumer non-durable goods production contracted by 2.4 per cent during the reporting month as against a growth of 11.4 per cent in April 2023.

According to the data, infrastructure/construction goods reported a growth of 8 per cent in April 2024 against a 13.4 per cent expansion in the year-ago period.

The data also showed that the output of primary goods logged a 7 per cent growth in April this year, up from 1.9 per cent a year earlier.

The expansion in the intermediate goods segment was 3.2 per cent in the month under review, higher than the 1.7 per cent recorded in the same period a year ago.