Manufacturing sector growth improves in Sep: SBI Index

Country's manufacturing sector growth improved on an yearly basis in September, an SBI research report said, adding that mining and electricity are still acting as a drag on economic activity.
The yearly SBI Composite Index, an indicator for manufacturing activity in the country, for September stood at a four month high at 53.9, as against 53.4 in the same period last year.
However, the monthly Index declined to 48.4 in September from 53.1 in the previous month.
"The upturn has been majorly driven by manufacturing, while mining and electricity are still acting as a drag on economic activity," the report said adding that "we expect, September IIP to be the highest since November 2014, when it expanded at more than 5 per cent".

The report further said that there are signs of credit growth in some industries like Drug & Pharmaceuticals, Petro Chemicals, Basic Metals, Iron and Steel and Power sector.
Going forward, Government plans to develop a total of 66,117 km of roads under different programmes and has set an objective of building 30 km of road a day from 2016.

"These changes are positive but one can expect impetus in the road sector to come in next 18 months or so," the report added.
An index value of 42 to 46 means (moderate decline), 46 to 50 (low decline), 50 to 52 (low growth), 52 to 55 (moderate growth) and above 55 (high growth), it said.

The SBI Composite Index rivals the existing data point from Nikkei. It has been developed on basis of the bank's internal loan portfolio, which mirrors the credit demand in the country, and other data sets available in public domain.