Raising hopes of investment cycle uptick, industrial growth jumped to nine-month high of 5 per cent in February on better performance of manufacturing sector and higher offtake of consumer as well as capital goods.
The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 75 per cent of the index of industrial production, grew by 5.2 per cent in February against a contraction of 3.9 per cent in the same month a year ago, the data released by Central Statistics Office today showed.
Other sectors which showed marked improvement are capital goods and consumer goods, recording growth rates of 8.8 per cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively.
The factory output had registered a decline of 2 per cent in February 2014.
The industrial output growth in February 2015 is the highest since May 2014 when IIP grew by 5.6 per cent.
The IIP figures, CII President Sumit Mazumder said, are "much above market expectations, point to the industrial recovery firmly taking root and an impending turnaround in the investment cycle".
The government, he suggested, should continue to undertake the policy reforms to unshackle entrepreneurial activity, reviving investments and accelerating growth.
In the April-February period of 2014-15, IIP grew 2.8 per cent as against contraction of 0.1 per cent in same period of previous fiscal.
Meanwhile, the IIP for January has been revised upwards to 2.77 per cent from the provisional estimate of 2.6 per cent released last month.
Fifteen out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during the month of February year-on-year.
