Industrial growth falls to 17-month low in November

 Industrial output growth dropped to a 17-month low of 0.5% in November on account of contraction in manufacturing sector, particularly consumer and capital goods.Factory output as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had grown by 8.5% in November 2017, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Friday.

The previous low was in June 2017, when IIP growth contracted by 0.3%.The growth for October 2018 was revised upwards to 8.4% from 8.1%.During the April-November period, industrial output grew 5% as compared to 3.2% in the same period of the previous fiscal.

The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63% of the index, recorded a contraction of 0.4% in November as against a growth of 10.4% a year ago.The mining sector posted 2.7% growth during the month as against 1.4% in November 2017.Power sector output also grew by 5.1% from 3.9% a year ago.

Capital goods output declined by 3.4%, compared to 3.7% growth a year ago. Consumer durables output also dipped by 0.9% as against a growth of 3.1% a year earlier. Consumer non-durable goods also saw a contraction of 0.6% as compared to 23.7% growth a year ago.In terms of industries, 10 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed positive growth during November 2018.

As per use-based classification, the growth rates in November 2018 over November 2017 are 3.2% in primary goods, (-) 4.5% in intermediate goods and 5% in infrastructure/construction goods.