Aug IIP growth slips to 5.6% from 10.6% YoY

Industrial growth slowed down to 5.6 per cent in August from 10.6 per cent in the corresponding period last year, on the back of a 2.6 per cent contraction in the capital goods production.

Among the main industry segments, manufacturing activity declined to 5.9 per cent from 10.6 per cent a year ago. Mining sector growth was at 7 per cent as compared to 11 per cent in August last year.

Electricity generation growth, too, slowed down to one per cent from 10.6 per cent in August last year.
   
Capital goods sector contracted by 2.6 per cent in August, in comparison to 9.2 per cent growth in the year-ago period, official data released here said.

Also, consumer non-durables, which are mainly fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), recorded a negative growth of 1.2 per cent, in comparison to an expansion of 6.1 per cent in the same month last year.

Consumer durables was the only segment of goods, which saw an output growth over the year-ago period. In August consumer durables expanded by 26.5 per cent, as compared to 24.7 per cent in the year-ago period.

Of the 17 industry groups, as many as 14 have shown positive growth during the month of August. The industrial expansion figure for July was revised upwards to 15.2 per cent from the earlier estimates of 13.8 per cent.

Industrial growth for the first five months of this fiscal stood at 10.6 per cent in comparison to 5.9 per cent growth in the same period a year ago.

Experts had projected that the industry growth might slip to single-digit level because of the high base effect of last year.

Moderate growth in core sectors, which accounts for 26.7 per cent of the total industrial output, was also seen pulling down growth in factory output in August, experts said.

The core sector, which includes crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel, grew by 3.7 per cent in August. The growth had slowed from 3.9 per cent recorded in July.