Industrial growth slows to 5.2% in August

The country's industrial growth slowed to 5.2 per cent in August this year compared to 6.2 per cent growth witnessed August last.

According to the quick estimates of the Index Of Industrial Production (IIP) released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) today, August's growth was also lower than 5.6 per cent growth registered in July this year.

In the first five months, however, Industrial output grew 5.6 per cent compared with 5.2 per cent growth registered in April-August last fiscal.

Growth in all sectors -- manufacturing, mining and electricity -- slowed down. The growth in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 80 per cent of the industrial output index and carries the highest weight in the IIP basket, was down to 6.0 per cent compared to 6.5 per cent in August last fiscal.

The electricity output was almost flat at 0.9 per cent in August, as against a 4.1 per cent growth last year. The mining sector also grew by just 2.5 per cent in August, as against a growth of 5.7 per cent registered in the same period last year.

The capital goods sector, a barometer for industrial activity, grew 6.3 per cent in August, as against 11.7 per cent last August.

Consumer durables rose 3.9 per cent during the month, as compared with a contraction of 9.0 per cent in August 2002.

Growth in consumer non-durables plummeted to 8.6 per cent, as against 14.7 per cent during the previous year period. Basic goods' growth dipped marginally 4.0 per cent in August this year as compared to 4.2 per cent in the year-ago period.

On a cumulative basis during the first five months of this fiscal, the manufacturing sector registered a 6.2 per cent growth compared to 5.0 per cent in the corresponding period in 2002-03, even as mining and electricity posted lower growth.

While growth in mining fell to 4.4 per cent during April-August this year compared to 7.6 per cent in the same period a year ago, growth in the electricity sector was down to 2.4 per cent, as against 4.2 per cent in the first five months of 2002-03.

During April-August, growth in intermediate goods rose, while that in basic goods plummeted, with growth in capital goods remaining unchanged. Growth in intermediate goods rose to 3.3 per cent during April-August, as compared to 1.9 per cent in the corresponding period in 2002-03.

Growth in basic goods' production fell to 4.2 per cent in the first five months this year as against 5.6 per cent in the same period of 2002-03, while growth in capital goods was maintained at 7.8 per cent, the level it had registered in the last year period.

On a cumulative basis also, the growth in the consumer durables segment witnessed a resurgence to tick 4.8 per cent growth during April-August as compared with a contraction of 5.4 per cent in the corresponding period in 2002-03.

The consumer non-durable sector growth was down to 10.2 per cent in the first five months of this year as compared with 12.4 per cent growth in the same period of 2002-03.

The government has increased its growth forecast for the year to end-March, 2004, to more than seven percent from six, factoring in the good monsoon and expected bumper rice and oilseed crops when harvesting begins soon.