IIP data: Some explainable, much inexplicable

Most surprising was that production of vitamins expanded 54.7%

As the mercury rose in June, so did the production of aerated water and soft drinks. Production in this segment rose 28.2 per cent in June year-on-year, even as overall industrial production contracted 2.2 per cent, a consecutive contraction in the sector.

Soft drinks are a part of the larger consumer non-durables category, which rose five per cent in June, against a 0.5 per cent fall a year earlier, showed official data released on Monday.

Even as Finance Minister P Chidambaram is set to increase customs duty on gold, the toll on gems and jewellery production is clear.

In this segment, output fell 32.6 per cent in June, compared to the year-ago period.

The cigarettes category faced the brunt of a higher excise duty, with production falling by a quarter in June year-on-year. Chidambaram had raised the excise duty on cigarettes 18 per cent in Budget 2013-14.

However, production in the textiles and leather sectors rose significantly. While apparel production increased 33.3 per cent, out put in the leather segment rose 25.5 per cent.

Rice production increased 25 per cent. As only processed food items are considered for the Index of Industrial Production, the rise points to an increase in packaged rice dispatches, not the agricultural produce. Even as India is set to record excess sugar production in 2014-15, production of sugar machinery fell 49.6 per cent in June.

The production of vitamins increased 54.7 per cent, something that surprised many. Also, even as other segments of the automobile industry saw declines in production, the output of three-wheelers rose 35.9 per cent in June.

Heat exchangers, used in a variety of products from air conditioners to petrochemical plants, saw production fall 59.2 per cent.

Even as India is going to see fifth year of excess sugar production in 2014-15 due to good rains, sugar machinery production was down 49.6%.