Industrial output up 2% in February

Industrial output in the country rose two per cent in February after falling continuously for three months, government data showed on Tuesday. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP), down 0.5 per cent in January, was boosted mainly by a 9.6 per cent rise in electricity generation and a five per cent rise in mining output.

Cumulative industrial growth for April-February, first 10 months of financial year 2015-16, over the same period of the previous year stands at 2.6 per cent, slightly less than the 2.8 per cent rise for the period a year before that.

Manufacturing, three-fourths of the index, showed marginal growth of 0.7 per cent in February. It did not grow much due to a decline of 9.8 per cent in capital goods. Manufacturing cumulatively grew 2.3 per cent in the April-Feb period, the same as a year before. A report earlier this month from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization placed India sixth among the world's 10 largest manufacturing countries, up from ninth rank a year before. It said Manufacturing Value Added grew 7.6 per cent in 2015 over 2014. However, IIP represents volume growth in industrial production.

In February, 19 of the top 25 products within manufacturing showed growth, up from 18 in January. Electricity has seen a steady rise since November, though its cumulative growth of 5.1 per cent in the April-February period compares with 9.1 per cent the previous year. Mining picked up, up five per cent from the 1.3 per cent rise in January.