Index of Industrial Production growth rises to 9-month high of 4.3% in August

Industrial production grew at a nine-month high of 4.3 per cent in August, mainly on account of robust performance of mining and power sectors coupled with higher capital goods output, official data showed on Thursday.

Factory output growth measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at 4 per cent in August 2016, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

IIP growth during April-August period of this fiscal stood at 2.2 per cent, down from 5.9 per cent in same period in 2016-17.

Meanwhile, the July IIP number was revised to 0.94 per cent from 1.2 per cent provisional estimates released last month.

The output growth in manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the index, however, decelerated to 3.1 per cent in August from 5.5 per cent a year ago.

The output of the mining and electricity sectors grew at 9.4 per cent and 8.3 per cent as compared to August 2016.

As per use-based classification, the growth rates in August 2017 over August 2016 are 7.1 per cent in primary goods, 5.4 per cent in capital goods, (-) 0.2 per cent in intermediate goods and 2.5 per cent in infrastructure/ construction goods.

The consumer durables and consumer non-durables sectors recorded growth of 1.6 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively.

In terms of industries, 10 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during August 2017.

The industry group ‘Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products’ showed the highest positive growth of 24.9 percent, followed by 16.5 per cent in ‘pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products and 11.1 per cent in ‘other transport equipment?.

On the other hand, the industry group ‘Manufacture of furniture’ showed the highest negative growth of (-) 16 per cent, followed by (-) 15.1 per cent in ‘tobacco products’ and (-) 11.4 per cent in ‘Printing and reproduction of recorded media’.

Inflation remains unchanged at 3.28 per cent

Retail inflation came in at 3.28 per cent in September, unchanged from August, despite softening of vegetable and cereal prices, according to government data.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) or retail inflation stood at 4.39 per cent in September 2016.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) also revised downwards the August inflation to 3.28 per cent from 3.36 per cent.

The data revealed the overall food inflation moderated to 1.25 per cent in September from 1.67 per cent in the previous month.

The rate of price in vegetables softened to 3.92 per cent (from 9.97 per cent in August). On the other hand, the inflation print rose in the fuel and light category to 5.56 per cent. It was 3.66 per cent in August.

Among others, inflation in fruits, meat & fish, and prepared meals quicken during the month. Rate of price rise in pulses continued with the deflationary trend at (-) 22.51 per cent and eggs prices fell by 0.15 per cent.