The finance ministry today expressed satisfaction at the double-digit industrial growth in October, saying the economy and manufacturing sectors are on the path to recovery.
"We were expecting this. This is further indication of the direction in which the manufacturing sector and the economy is moving...It calls for satisfaction," finance secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters here.
Factory production expanded by a robust 10.3% in October, fuelling hopes that the economy is on the path to recovery and will improve upon the 6.7-percentage points growth rate it recorded in the previous fiscal.
The data come days after the pleasantly stunning 7.9% GDP growth numbers in the second quarter, the impact of drought and floods in different parts of the country notwithstanding.
The cumulative data for the first seven months (April-October) of the current fiscal reveal that industrial output grew by 7.1%, up from 4.3% recorded during the corresponding period last fiscal.
Manufacturing, which has almost 80% weight in the IIP data, grew by a healthy 11.1% against (-)0.6% a year ago, helped by stimulus measures unveiled last year after the global credit crisis began to impact the economy.
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