India’s industrial production down 1.3% in Dec as GDP rises 7.3% in Q3

Industrial production in the country based on the index of industrial production (IIP) declined by 1.3 per cent in December, although at a slower pace than in November when output at factories, utilities and mines shrank an annual pace of 3.4 per cent.

The data, which comes days after the official estimates showed the economy posted a growth of 7.3 per cent in the October-December 2015 quarter, points to some imbalances in the demand supply equations in the country.

Cumulative growth of industrial production for the period April-December 2015 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 3.1 per cent.

Among various sectors, the index of production for the mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors showed growth rates of 2.9 per cent, - 2.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively, for December 2015 year-on-year.

Cumulative growth in three sectors during April-December 2015 over the corresponding period of 2014 stood at 2.3 per cent, 3.1 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively.

In terms of industries, 10 out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during December 2015 compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.

Production in the industry group 'electrical machinery and apparatus' showed the highest negative growth of (-) 44.9 per cent, followed by 'publishing, printing and reproduction of recorded media' (-) 10.7 per cent and 'tobacco products' (-) 8.2 per cent.

On the other hand, the industry group 'radio, TV and communication equipment and apparatus' showed the highest positive growth of 82.0 per cent, followed by 'office, accounting and computing machinery' 17.5 per cent and 'furniture manufacturing'' 16.6 per cent.

Basic goods production increased by 0.5 per cent while capital goods production declined by 19.7 per cent and intermediate goods output rose 0.9 per cent in December.

Consumer durables and consumer non-durables recorded growth rates of 16.5 per cent and (-) 3.2 per cent, respectively, with the overall growth in consumer goods being 2.8 per cent.