Factory output grows 2 pc in Feb after 3 months of contraction

Industrial production grew 2 per cent year on year in February after staying negative for the last 3 months on better performance of mining, power and consumer goods, a proof that economic recovery is holding up. Factory output measured in terms of the index of industrial production (IIP) declined 3.4 per cent in November, 1.2 per cent in December and 1.5 per cent in January, data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed.

The index had registered a growth of 4.8 per cent in February last year, it said.

During April-February, industrial output grew at 2.6 per cent compared with a growth of 2.8 per cent in the year-ago period.

The growth in February has come on top of improvement in output of consumer durable goods, which grew 9.7 per cent in February as against a contraction of 3.8 per cent in the same month a year ago.

The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, grew at 0.7 per cent against a growth of 5.1 per cent in February 2015.

Mining too shaped up, logging a growth of 5 per cent as against a growth of 1.6 per cent in same month a year ago.

Power generation accelerated, growing 9.6 per cent compared with 5.9 per cent growth a year earlier.

As per use-based classification, basic goods reported a growth of 5.4 per cent as against an expansion of 4.9 last year.

However, capital goods, a barometer for investment flow, contracted 9.8 per cent in February compared with a growth of 8.3 per cent in the year-ago period.

The overall consumer goods output grew at 0.8 as against a growth of 4.9 per cent.

The consumer non-durable segment contracted 4.2 per cent in February as against a growth of 10.5 per cent in the corresponding month.

In terms of industries, 16 out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed a positive growth in February.