labels: economy - general
Industry posts 9.4 per cent growth in April news
Our Economy Bureau
12 June 2004

New Delhi: The estimates of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for April, released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) yesterday, show that Indian industry registered a 9.4 per cent growth during the first month of the current fiscal, as against 4.2 per cent during April 2003. This comes just a fortnight after the commerce ministry's export data for April pointing at a 19.95 per cent growth in dollar terms.

The 9.4 per cent industrial growth for April has been powered by the manufacturing index, which has recorded a year-on-year increase of 9.2 per cent, compared to 4.3 per cent in April 2003. The other two major sectors comprising the general IIP - mining' and electricity' — have also notched up higher growth rates of 9.5 per cent (6.3 per cent) and 10.7 per cent (1.9 per cent), respectively. The buoyant numbers for the opening month of the current fiscal follows an overall industrial growth rate of 6.9 per cent during 2003-04, against 5.7 per cent for 2002-03.

The `use-based' classification of the IIP provides further encouraging news. The index for `capital goods' — considered a reliable proxy for investment activity in the economy — has surged by 23.2 per cent in April, which is on top of a year-on-year growth of 6.5 per cent for the same month of the preceding fiscal.

The indices for `basic goods,' `intermediate goods' and `consumer durables' have also correspondingly registered higher growth rates of 8.2 per cent (2.8 per cent), 9.4 per cent (2.1 per cent) and 17.7 per cent (0.4 per cent), respectively.

Only consumer non-durables have shown a lower growth of 3.5 per cent during April 2004, compared to 9.1 per cent in April 2003.


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Industry posts 9.4 per cent growth in April