Industrial recovery slow as manufacturing leads 8% fall in August IIP

Though September high-frequency indicators offer hope, August IIP data shows well performing FMCG sector went from green to red, while recovery turned stale for primary goods

The industrial production in August was eight per cent lower than in the same month of the previous year, official data rele­ased by the National Statistical Office on Monday showed. The dent in Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was over a third of output at the peak lockdown period (April and May). 

Manufacturing output contracted 8.6 per cent, while the fall in electricity production moderated to 1.8 per cent, data show. But disaggregated data across sectors shows the extent of the problem. IIP for consumer non-durables, or fast moving consumer goods, had grown 14.3 per cent in June. In July,