Industrial growth declined sharply in November 2001 with the growth in the index of industrial production (IIP) falling to 0.9 per cent, one of its lowest in the 1990s. The IIP growth rate in the corresponding month last year was 7.4 per cent.
The average industrial growth in the first eight months of the current financial year was a mere 2.2 per cent as against a 6 per cent growth recorded between April and November 2000-01.
The Central Statistical Organisation which released the IIP figures today, has also hiked the October IIP growth to 2.6 per cent from the level of 1.9 per cent reported last month. The IIP growth figures for August have also been scaled up to 2.9 per cent from 2.7 per cent reported earlier.
More From This Section
The increase in industrial growth in October was due to an increase in the index for mining. The growth rate for this sector has been revised upwards from 2.4 per cent to 3.5 per cent due to a revision in the production figures for metallic minerals.
The fall in IIP growth in November was mainly driven by a dismal performance in the manufacturing sector, which grew by a mere 0.5 per cent in November this year, as against a 7.5 per cent growth rate in November 2000. This sector accounts for almost 80 per cent of the IIP.
On the positive side, the capital goods sector has recorded positive growth for the first time this fiscal. This could, however, be on account of the low-base effect. Production of capital goods went up by 1.6 per cent in November 2001, as against a fall in the production of 2.1 per cent in the corresponding month last year. The basic goods sector reported a 3 per cent growth while intermediate goods production increased by 0.1 per cent. The index for consumer goods, however, fell by 0.6 per cent in November 2001, as compared to November 2000. Consumer durables production increased by 3.9 per cent while production of consumer non-durables went down by 2.1 per cent during the month.
Six out of the seventeen two-digit industry groups have shown positive growth during November 2001, as compared to the corresponding month in the previous year.
In the first eight months this year, the average growth in the manufacturing sector was 2.3 per cent as against 6.3 per cent growth in the corresponding period last year. The electricity sector grew by 2.5 per cent as against 4.9 per cent growth last year. The mining sector reported a 1.2 per cent growth in this period as against 4.4 per cent in the first eight months last fiscal.
Between April and November 2001, the capital goods sector has reported a 5 per cent fall in production as compared to a 3.1 per cent growth reported in the corresponding period last fiscal. Growth in basic goods is 2.2 per cent as against 5.4 per cent between April-November 2000 and consumer goods production has gone up by 4.7 per cent as against a 9 per cent growth in the first eight months last fiscal.