New Delhi- India’s industrial production expanded by 3.1 per cent in September after recording a contraction in the preceding month, as all three major segments — mining, manufacturing and power generation — showed improvement.
However, the growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) during the month was lower than 6.4 per cent registered in September 2023.
The factory output had turned negative in August at (-) 0.1 per cent, mainly on account of floods affecting mining operations in the different parts of the country.
According to the data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), mining sector output grew by 0.2 per cent, manufacturing production by 3.9 per cent and electricity output by 0.5 per cent in the month of September 2024.
In August, the mining sector output contracted by 4.3 per cent and power generation by 3.7 per cent. The growth in manufacturing too was muted at 1.1 per cent.
“The IIP growth rate for the month of September 2024 is 3.1 per cent which was (-) 0.1 per cent in the month of August 2024,” NSO said in a statement.
During April-September 2024-25, the IIP growth was 4 per cent lower than 6.2 per cent in the year ago.
As per the use-based classification released by the NSO, the capital goods segment growth decelerated to 2.8 per cent in September 2024 from 8.4 per cent in the year-ago month.
Consumer non-durables output grew by 2 per cent against a growth of 2.7 per cent in September 2023.
Consumer durable goods production expanded by 6.5 per cent during the reporting month, up from one per cent in September 2023.
According to the data, infrastructure/construction goods reported a growth of 3.3 per cent in September 2024, down from a 10.1 per cent expansion in the year-ago period.
The data also showed that the output of primary goods rose by 1.8 per cent as against a growth of 8 per cent a year earlier.
The expansion in the intermediate goods segment was 4.2 per cent.
Commenting on the data, Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA said that the IIP expanded by 3.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis in September 2024 after declining by 0.1 per cent in August 2024, amid a favourable base.
The uptick was broad-based with all the use-based segments witnessing an improvement in their year-on-year growth in September 2024 vis-à-vis August 2024, she said.
“Balancing between the positive impact of the early onset of the festive season and an unfavourable base (+11.9 per cent in October 2023), ICRA anticipates the YoY IIP growth to print at ~3.0-4 per cent in October 2024,” Nayar added.
Within the manufacturing sector, NSO said top three positive contributors in September 2024 were – ‘Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products’ (5.3 per cent), ‘Manufacture of basic metals’ (2.5 per cent), and ‘Manufacture of electrical equipment’ (18.7 per cent). (PTI)