Industrial output shrinks 3.8% in October, 3rd straight month of fall

October capital goods output down for ninth month

Despite broad-based decline in manufacturing sector, the pace of contraction of industrial output slowed in October, falling by 3.8 per cent. Industrial production had contracted by an eight-year high of 4.3 per cent in September.

The fall is attributed to smaller losses in manufacturing output and slowdown in capital goods production, even as the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted for a third consecutive month, the data released on Thursday showed.

Contraction in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 78 per cent of the index, stood at 2.1 per cent, down from 3.9 per cent contraction in September. Of the 23 sub-sectors