Industrial output picking up: Pranab

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the industry output, which grew 6.8 per cent in July, has started picking up and hoped the momentum would continue.

"It (industrial production growth rate) is picking up. I hope that it will continue," Mukherjee told reporters while commenting on the recent industrial growth data.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) showed a rise of 6.8 per cent in July year-on-year. The growth was 6.4 per cent in the corresponding month last fiscal.

Factory productions have expanded for the second month in a row signalling an industrial recovery. Last month it had risen by 8.2 per cent.

The minister added that the signs of improvement were visible in critical sectors like cement, steel, consumer goods and housing.

However, he ruled out the possibility of compensating for decline in exports with the increase in factory output alone.

"There is a possibility of (sustaining upswing in industrial growth) but that possibility is not adequate to compensate for shortfall in exports," he said.

"Unless demand in industrial world improves, exports won't pick up," Mukherjee added.