India's industrial output contracts 0.5 percent in March

India's industrial output contracted by 0.5 percent in March from a negative 1.9 percent in the previous month due to a sharp drop in manufacturing and mining activity, government data showed Monday.

The cumulative growth of the industrial production for the April-March 2013-14 period declined by 0.1 percent from a growth of 1.1 percent in the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) here.

The industrial output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), posted a healthy growth of 3.5 percent in March 2013.

Manufacturing production contracted by 1.2 percent in the month under review from 4.3 percent in March 2013, while mining production decreased by 0.4 percent from a negative 2.1 percent on a year-on-year basis.

However, electricity production jumped by 5.4 percent from a growth of 3.5 percent in March.