Rise in manufacturing expands India's August factory output

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The acceleration in manufacturing and mining sectors' output speeded up India's factory expansion growth to 6.4 percent in August, from 4.1 percent in the month before, official data showed on Monday.

The industrial output in the corresponding month of 2014 had inched up by 0.5 percent.

India's industrial output during April-August period grew by 4.1 percent from an increase of three percent registered in the corresponding period of last year.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO), which released the data on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), also revised its July estimates downwards.

The revised figures for July showed a growth of 4.1 percent against a rise of 4.2 percent which was published in the "Quick Estimates of IIP" released on September 11, 2015.

The August IIP data revelled an expansion in all the three core sectors of manufacturing, mining and electricity, as against revised figures for July and the corresponding month of 2014.

In August, the manufacturing sector, which has the maximum weightage in the IIP, grew by 6.9 percent from 4.55 percent rise in July and a decline of 1.1 percent in the corresponding month of 2014.

The mining sector output rose by 3.8 percent from a marginal increase of 0.94 percent in the month before, and a rise of 1.2 percent in the like period of last year.

The electricity sector's yields accelerated to 5.6 percent last month from a 3.53 percent in July. However, the expansion rate for the month under review was considerably lower than the surge of 12.9 percent in August 2014.

Cumulatively, the overall industrial output rose by 4.1 percent in the April-August period from an increase of three percent in the corresponding period of 2014-15.

The manufacturing sector swelled by 4.6 percent, while the electricity sector expanded by 3.2 percent. The mining sector's cumulative output in the period under review edged up by 1.2 percent.

Monday's data showed that among the six use-based classifications of the index, the output of capital goods segment expanded by 21.8 percent in August. The capital goods segment is a key indicator of economic activity.

Healthy production was also observed in the consumer durables' output, which grew by 17 percent. The output of consumer goods was higher by 6.8 percent.

The basic goods segment rose by 3.4 percent, while intermediate goods grew by 2.6 percent and consumer non-durables segment inched up by 0.4 percent.

Overall, 15 out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during the month under review.

Segment-wise, growth was witnessed in gems and jewellery (192.3 percent), sugar machinery (140.8 percent), hot rolled sheets (129.5 percent), fruit pulp (93.4 percent), cable (72.1 percent), vitamins (37.6 percent), aluminium wires and extrusions (28.9 percent), aluminium conductors (25.6 percent), carbon steel (23.6 percent), steel structures (22.5 percent) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (21.2 percent).

Segment-wise, high negative growth was reported in the ready-to-eat (-42.9 percent), grinding wheels (-37.8 percent), cold rolled sheets (-28.2 percent), stainless steel (-27 percent), furnace oil (-26.5 percent), colour TV sets (-22.9 percent), aerated waters and soft drinks (-22.4 percent) and air conditioning (-20.5 percent) sectors.