Survey finds sharp rise in industrial output, exports in 2002-03

Industrial production and exports have improved sharply in 2002-03 as compared to the previous fiscal year, according to the latest survey carried out by the Associations Council (ASCON) of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Out of the 132 manufacturing sectors covered in the survey, as many as 15 have shown an "excellent" growth of over 20 per cent. Two-wheelers, VCR/VCD/DVDs, airconditioners and pharmaceuticals were among the fastest-growing sectors in the current fiscal year. In comparison, only four of the 118 sectors covered in the ASCON survey for 2001-02 had shown such growth.

According to the ASCON survey, 34 sectors showed a "high" 10-20 per cent growth in production. Last fiscal, only 19 sectors had shown "high" growth. Further, 68 sectors showed a less than 10 per cent "moderate" growth this fiscal.

Last year, 67 sectors had been in the "moderate" category. This year, only 17 sectors showed a decline in production, which is much less than the 28 sectors that showed a decline last year. “This confirms that this recovery is broad-based,” a CII release said.

Not only is the Indian manufacturing sector doing well domestically, the survey shows that exports are also rising. This year, 22 sectors have shown an "excellent" export growth of more than 20 per cent. Last year, only 7 sectors had shown a similar increase. Among the fast growing sectors are cars, cold rolled steel, cement and precision tubes.

This year, there were 21 sectors in the "high" growth category of 10-20 per cent. Last year, there were 8 sectors in this category.

In the "low" growth category i.e., an increase in exports of less than 10 per cent, there were 7 sectors this year. Last year, there were 19 — more than double of this year’s. Only 7 sectors showed a fall in exports. Last year, there were 17 sectors that had shown a similar trend. This year's survey covered 57 sectors as compared to last year's 51.

The upward trend in industrial production shown by the ASCON survey has been confirmed by the government's data for the index of industrial production.

According to the index, industrial output in the 10-month period from April 2002 to January 2003 was up by 6.4 per cent over the previous 10-month period.