Industrial growth nosedives to 1.6% in December 2010

Industrial growth slowed even further to a dismal 1.6% in December, 2010, from 18% in the same period a year ago due to the poor performance of the manufacturing sector.In November, 2010, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had expanded by a meagre 2.7%.Industrial growth during April-December this fiscal stood at 8.6%, unchanged in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year, official data released in Mumbai today showed.In December, 2010, manufacturing growth plummeted to 1% from 19.6% a year ago.Consumer non-durables production declined by 1.1% during the month under review, in sharp contrast to 3% growth in the same period a year ago.The capital goods sector also contracted by 13.7% in December, 2010. The sector had expanded by 42.9% in the corresponding period of the previous year.Besides manufacturing, mining growth also fell to 3.8% in the month under review from 11.1% in the same period of the previous year. However, electricity generation expanded by 6% in December, 2010, compared to 5.4% in December, 2009.In terms of industries, 12 out of 17 industry groups achieved positive growth in the last month of 2010.