New Delhi: Manufacturing appears to be on a revival path, with the official Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growing by 6.4 per cent in February 2003 as against 2.4 per cent during the same month last year.

The 6.4-per cent year-on-year overall growth, based on the quick estimates of IIP released by the Central Statistical Organisation here, has been mainly powered by the manufacturing sector, the index of which rose by 6.5 per cent in February as compared to 2.9 per cent in February 2002. The corresponding growth rates for the indices of mining and electricity amounted to 7.2 per cent (2.1 per cent) and 0.1 per cent (2.9 per cent).

For the period April 2002-February 2003, the overall year-on-year increase in the country's industrial output was estimated at 5.7 per cent (against 2.6 per cent during the first 11 months of the previous fiscal) and the corresponding cumulative growth rates being 5.8 per cent (2.8 per cent) for manufacturing, 5.7 per cent (1.1 per cent) for mining and 3.5 per cent (2.9 per cent) for electricity.

A reassuring feature has been the performance of the capital goods sub-sector. Production of capital goods, considered to be a proxy for investment activity in the economy, has gone up by 9.9 per cent in February 2003 and 10.7 per cent during April-February 2002-03 compared to the previous year's corresponding growth levels of 1.1 per cent and minus 4.2 per cent, respectively.