IIP nos to be much better in 2009-10: Montek

The Planning Commission today said it expected industrial production to beat last year's growth and attributed the revival to various stimulus measures.

His comments came after latest government data showed that factory production grew 11.7 per cent in November last year.

"Industrial growth this year is going to be much better than last year....Whether it will be 11.3 per cent for the next six months that is difficult to say", Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters here.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth during November was robust compared to the dismal 2.5 per cent in the year-ago period. IIP grew by 2.6 per cent in 2008-09.

Attributing high industrial growth rate to stimulus provided by the government to combat the impact of the global financial meltdown, Ahluwalia said, "We have been saying that concerted action taken by the government will lead to revival."

Following the global crisis triggered by the collapse of America's iconic investment banker Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the government has provided stimulus packages that entailed a burden of Rs 1.86 lakh crore for the exchequer.

The overall economic growth during the second quarter of the fiscal (July-September 2009-10) recorded a growth of 7.9 per cent, much more than anticipated by any analyst or think tank.