India’s IIP growth contracts 0.1% in March, hits 21-month low

13 May 2019 Evaluate

With slowdown in manufacturing sector, India industrial production measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted to 0.1% in March 2019, the lowest in 21 months. It had grown by 5.3% in March 2018. IIP's previous low was recorded in June 2017, when output shrank by 0.3%. 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 March 2019 stood at 140.2, which is 0.1% lower as compared to the level in the month of March 2018. The cumulative growth for the period April-March 2018-19 over the corresponding period of the previous year stood at 3.6% as against 4.4 per cent in the previous fiscal. Meanwhile, IIP growth for February 2019 has been revised downwards to 0.07% from 0.1% earlier.

On the sectoral front, the manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63% of the IIP, contracted by 0.4% in March as compared to 5.7% expansion in the year-ago month. Power sector growth slowed to 2.2% in March as compared to 5.9% a year ago. Mining sector growth also dropped to 0.8% in March compared to 3.1% expansion a year ago. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of March 2019 stand at 132.6, 139.6 and 160.1 respectively. The cumulative growth in these three sectors during April-March 2018-19 over the corresponding period of 2017-18 has been 2.9%, 3.5% and 5.2%, respectively.

Besides, capital goods output declined by 8.7% in the month under review as against 3.1% contraction in March 2018. As per use-based classification, growth rates in March 2019 were 2.5% in primary goods, (-) 2.5% in intermediate goods and 6.4% in infrastructure/ construction goods. Similarly, consumer durables and consumer non-durables have recorded growth of (-) 5.1% and 0.3%, respectively.

In terms of industries, 12 out of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during the month of March 2019 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. The industry group ‘Manufacture of furniture’ has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 24.6% followed by (-) 18.5% in ‘Manufacture of other transport equipment’ and (-) 15.3 in ‘Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment’. On the other hand, the industry group ‘Manufacture of tobacco products’ has shown the highest positive growth of 13.5% followed by 10.6% in ‘Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products’ and 9.3% in ‘Manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials’.

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