Manufacturing decline pulls factory output down

India's factory output contracted by (-)1.2 per cent in February, as manufacturing activity dipped, official data showed on Wednesday.

The factory output, as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had decelerated by (-)1.2 per cent during February from a rise of 3.2 per cent reported for January 2017.

The factory output had expanded by 1.9 per cent in the corresponding month of the previous year.

As per the IIP data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the contraction was mainly on account of a 2 per cent decline in manufacturing output, which has the maximum weight in the overall index.

However, the output of other two major sub-indices -- mining and electricity -- expanded during the month under review.

The mining output rose by 3.3 per cent and that for electricity generation inched up by 0.3 per cent.

The cumulative growth of the country's factory output has inched higher by 0.4 per cent in the 11 months of the last fiscal -- April-to-February -- period.

--IANS

rv/vt