With lower output of manufacturing, mining and power generation sectors, industrial production, measured on the basis of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), declined by 8 percent in August. The IIP had contracted by 1.4 percent in August 2019. The data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that for the month of July 2020, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stood at 116.1.
According to the IIP data, manufacturing sector production registered a decline of 8.6 percent, while the output of mining and power segments fell 9.8 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of August 2020 stood at 83.0, 117.4 and 162.7 respectively.
As per Use-based classification, the indices stood at 108.4 for Primary Goods, 75.0 for Capital Goods, 126.6 for Intermediate Goods and 127.7 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of August 2020. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stood at 109.4 and 139.6 respectively for the month of August 2020.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said ‘It may not be appropriate to compare the IIP in the post pandemic months with the IIP for months preceding the COVID 19 pandemic’. It added that ‘with the gradual relaxation of restrictions, there has been a relative improvement in the economic activities by varying degrees as well as in data reporting’.