Output Up In Key Sectors

Key industries like automobiles _ especially cars and two-wheelers _ consumer durables, cement and steel exhibited a sharp spurt in year-on-year production growth during April, according to figures released by the Associations Council (Ascon) of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

However, the overall trend remained mixed, with 34 sectors recording better production figures in April than the average registered in the whole of 1997-98. Another 45 recorded inferior figures and 13 showed no change.

The figures are based on information provided by member-companies of the CII and its 61 affiliated associations which, in most cases, account for over 65 per cent of the total industry output.

The automobile sector figures, provided by the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, show overall production growth of 12 per cent, compared with an average growth rate of 1 per cent for the whole of 1997-98. The sector's growth was led by 34 per cent growth in passenger cars (-1 per cent in the whole of 1997-98); 6 per cent for scooters (-3 per cent), 24 per cent for motor cycles (14 per cent) and 23 per cent for mopeds (-2 per cent).

However, AIAM's Rajan Nandi says the figures cannot be taken as a sign of revival since they pertain to only one month. "We will be able to make out a trend only when we have the May figures in our hands," he said.

The rosy picture for the automobile sector is also marred by (-) 66 per cent production growth for medium & heavy commercial vehicles (against 38 per cent in 1997-98) and (-)30 per cent for light commercial vehicles (-23 per cent).

Nandi added that the commercial vehicle manufacturers were set to suffer more in the coming year as a result of the 5 per cent increase in excise duty on multi-utility vehicles which has already led to hike in prices of vehicles like Tata Sumo, Maruti Gypsy, Maruti Omni, etc.

Curiously, the production growth of auto components has dipped to (-) 12 per cent in April this year from 3.2 per cent in 1997-98.

Among consumer durables, production growth in April was 16 per cent for refrigerators (13 per cent in 1997-98), 15 per cent for air-conditioners (13 per cent) and 15 per cent for water coolers (10 per cent).

Consumer electronics suffered, with the April production growth being 6 per cent for black and white televisions (8.3 per cent), 25 per cent for CTVs (27 per cent) and 6 per cent for washing machines (10 per cent). However, the month was better for VCR/VCP and audio cassette recorders .

Sectors which recorded an improvement included air and gas compressor, aluminium , cement, construction industry, electrical fan, hydro electricity, thermal power, glass industry, machine tools, steel and telecom cables .

Sectors that recorded a dip were asbestos cement products (6 per cent in April this year against 8.4 per cent in 1997-98), ceramics (5 per cent against 6 per cent), diesel engines (-20 per cent against -5.5 per cent), earthmoving, construction and mining equipment (10 per cent against 14 per cent), electrical cables (-8 per cent against -7.5 per cent), electronics components (10 per cent against 11 per cent), fertiliser (10 per cent against 17 per cent), industrial furnace (-10 per cent against 12 per cent), malted food (4 per cent against 7.8 per cent), medical equipment (10 per cent against 15 per cent) and telecom equipment (0 per cent against 14 per cent).