India’s factory output declined again in December by minus 1.3% but was somewhat better than the minus 3.42% dip registered in the month before, official data showed. There was a growth of 3.6% in December 2014.
As per data on index of industrial production released by the Central Statistics Office, the cumulative growth of the country’s factory output logged a 3.1% rise in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, PTI reported.
Cumulative growth during the corresponding period of last fiscal stood at 2.6%.
December IIP was dragged lower by a minus 2.4% drop in manufacturing activity. Between the other broader indices, electricity production rose by 3.2%, while that for mining was up by 2.9%.
The cumulative growth of the electricity and mining indices for the first nine months of the current fiscal was 4.5% and 2.3%, respectively. Manufacturing’s cumulative growth stood at 3.1%.
In addition, the data revealed that among the six use-based classifications of the index, the output of consumer durables segment expanded by 16.5% in December. The consumer goods segment accelerated by 2.8%.
However, capital goods segment, which is a key indicator of economic activity plunged by minus 19.7%. The output of consumer non-durables was lower by minus 3.2%.
The basic and intermediate goods’ output inched-up by 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively.
Overall, only 10 out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during the month under review.
Segment-wise, growth was witnessed in woolen carpets (184.1%), telephone instruments including mobile phone and accessories (141.1%), ammonium phosphate (46.8%), wood furniture (36.9%), commercial vehicles (28.7%) and gems and jewelry (27.1%).
Moreover, high negative growth was reported in the cable, rubber insulated (- 85.2%), heat exchanger (- 68.8%), cement machinery (- 60.2%), grinding wheels (- 37.4%), boilers (- 22.7%) and sponge iron (- 22.5%).
