A day ahead of the release of the numbers for industrial production for the first quarter of 2012-13, fewer respondents in a survey conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) were optimistic about high manufacturing growth in the second quarter, as against the previous round of survey.
According to the survey, which drew responses from 418 manufacturing units and associations, over 67 per cent respondents said they were affected by the rupee depreciation in the last few months. The depreciation has led to an increase in the cost of their imported raw materials and inputs by 5-25 per cent.
Around 44 per cent respondents expected growth to be higher in Q2 in relation to the last year; 46 per cent said this for the first quarter, too.
Industrial production growth has been slow in the first two months of this year at one (-0.9) per cent for April and 2.4 per cent for May.
The survey noted that demand conditions remained subdued in the economy for the manufacturing sector in Q2 as compared to previous quarters as only 31 per cent respondents are saying that they have higher order books for July-September quarter.
On capacity utilization, the survey revealed that only 35 per cent respondents reported higher utilization against 44 per cent last year.
On hiring prospects, over 70 per cent respondents did not report any plans for hiring new workforce in next three months. End
