The industrial output of the country has accelerated to an 11-month high of 8.1 per cent in October following higher production in the mining, power and manufacturing sector, with higher manufacturing of capital goods and consumer durables.
According to the official data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Wednesday, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has grown to 8.1 percent from 4.46 per cent in September and 1.8 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous year.
The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 for the month of October 2018 stands at 132.4, which is 8.1 percent higher as compared to the level in the month of October 2017. The cumulative growth for the period April-October 2018 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 5.6 percent.
The manufacturing sector which constitutes the bulk of 77.63 per cent of the index, recorded 7.9 per cent growth in October as against 2 per cent last fiscal. The mining sector also grew 7 per cent during October compared to a decrease of 0.2 per cent in October 2017.
The cumulative growth for the period April-October 2018 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 5.6 per cent,” the ‘Quick Estimates’ of IIP released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said.
The power sector output also grew by 10.8 per cent in the month compared to 3.2 per cent a year ago while the capital goods sector saw the growth of 16.8 per cent in October, up from 3.5 per cent a year ago. Consumer durables expanded at 17.6 per cent as compared to a contraction of 9 per cent a year earlier.
Reportedly, 21 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during October 2018. Only two industries have shown a contraction in the month of October compared to seven in September.
With industries putting up good numbers this month, the retail inflation has hit a 17-month low of 2.33% in November as against 3.31 per cent in October as the prices of food items, including vegetables have come down. The RBI in its monetary policy committee meeting last week had cut its inflation projection to 2.7 to 3.2 per cent for October-March 2018-19 from its earlier view of 3.9 to 4.5 per cent.
