Non-BJP states take top three slots in manufacturing: CSO report

Non-BJP states have performed better on the manufacturing front, reports quoting government data show, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party has raised manufacturing and jobs as its main election plank.

AIADMK-ruled Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of factories, accounting for 17 per cent of the 2.17 lakh industrial units in India, followed by Congress-NCP ruled Maharashtra (13 per cent) and Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh (12.7 per cent).

BJP-ruled Gujarat comes fourth with a 10.2 per cent share in the number of industrial units, The Hindu quoted the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) findings for 2011-12, yet to be made public by the Central Statistics Office.

Tamil Nadu tops in terms of number of factory jobs as well, followed by Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat in that order, says the report.

The revelations come amidst BJP's efforts to turn focus on economic issues, especially the slowdown in manufacturing sector and declining factory jobs.

In an interview to ETV on Monday, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi listed job creation and industrial production among his top priorities. ''Jobless growth is the biggest crisis staring out at us,'' he said.

Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad also welcomed the shift in campaign focus to economic issues.

''We are happy that the campaign is moving towards economic issues as our prime ministerial candidate has been raising these issues but without any response from the Congress,'' he said.

Meanwhile, a committee headed by Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri has,called for a complete revamp of the index of industrial production (IIP), with the items in the index to be revised on an annual basis, instead of after every five years.