India’s industrial production measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew at a faster rate of 4.9% in the month of April 2018 as against a growth rate of 3.2% in the same month of 2017. The factory output once again came back to growth trajectory, mainly on the back of pick-up in manufacturing as it contributes more than three-fourths to the index. In March of this year, industrial production had grown at 4.4%.
As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, IIP with base 2011-12 for the month of April 2018, stood at 123.0, which is 4.9% higher as compared to the level in the month of April 2017. The cumulative growth for the period April-March 2017-18 over the corresponding period of the previous year stood at 4.3%.
On the sectoral basis, the manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 77% of the index, grew at 5.2% in April as compared to the almost flat growth of 2.9% in the same month a year ago. Mining output also grew by 5.1% compared to 3.0% a year ago. However, electricity generation grew by 2.1% against a growth of 5.4% in the same month previous year. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of April 2018 stood at 103.8, 123.4 and 153.7 respectively. The cumulative growth in these three sectors during April-March 2017-18 over the corresponding period of 2016-17 has been 2.3 percent, 4.5 percent and 5.4 percent respectively.
Capital goods output, a proxy to measure private sector investment activity, surged by 13% in the month under review. Consumer durables output increased at 4.3% in April 2018, while consumer non-durables grew 7.0% in April. As per Use-based classification, the growth rates in April 2018 over April 2017 are 3.1% in Primary goods, 1.6% in Intermediate goods and 7.5% in Infrastructure/ Construction Goods.
In terms of industries, 16 out of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during the month of April 2018 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. The industry group ‘Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products’ has shown the highest positive growth of 27.5% followed by 21.9% in ‘Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’ and 15.7% in ‘Manufacture of food products’. On the other hand, the industry group ‘Other manufacturing’ has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 30.7% followed by (-) 13.4% in ‘Manufacture of wearing apparel’ and (-) 10.3% in ‘Printing and reproduction of recorded media’.
Start Research-backed Investing ...Now. Subscribe to Sapphire
MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.
To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.
MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through: