Industrial production declines 0.4 percent in September

New Delhi : India’s industrial output contracted 0.4 percent in September, dragged down by deceleration in production in manufacturing, capital and consumer durables sectors, government data showed Monday.

Eight core industries that have a combined weight of 37.90 percent in the index of industrial production (IIP) logged a negative 0.4 percent growth year-on-year in September. In the corresponding month of 2011, these industries had registered a growth of 2.5 percent.

The eight core industries are coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity.

These had logged a 5.1 percent growth in August, led by double-digit growth in coal and petroleum refinery products.

The cumulative growth of the core industries during April-September 2012-13 period was 0.1 percent as compared to 5.1 percent growth registered during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to data released by the commerce and industry ministry.

The manufacturing output declined 1.5 percent during the month under review as compared to 3.1 percent registered during the corresponding month of 2011. The cumulative figures about the manufacturing industry showed a decline of 0.4 percent in April-September 2012 as compared to 5.5 percent growth registered in the like period of last fiscal.

Capital goods output was lower by 12.2 percent in the month under review from a negative 6.5 percent in September 2011.

Cumulatively, the sector in the April-September period declined by 13.7 percent as against a rise of 4.6 per cent in the the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

Among other sectors, consumer goods went down by 0.3 percent in the month under review from a growth of 5.7 percent in the like period of 2011. During the April-September period, the sector grew by 2.5 percent from 4.7 percent in corresponding period of last fiscal.

However, mining sector registered a healthy growth. The sector, which has 10.32 percent weight in the IIP, registered a growth of 5.5 percent in September this year as compared to 7.5 percent decline during the corresponding month of the previous year.

The electricity sector, however, slowed down at 3.9 percent compared to 9 percent during the year-ago period.