New Delhi: The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted 0.8 per cent in April compared with 0.1 per cent growth in the previous month.
As per data on released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the fall was mainly on account of a 3.1 per cent drop in manufacturing output, which also has the maximum weight in the overall index.
Among the other two major sub-indices, while the one for electricity generation rose a robust 14.6 per cent, that for mining expanded by just 1.4 per cent.
In the past six months, the general index has taken a drop on four occasions, while growing by a mere 2 per cent in February and 0.3 per cent in March.
The last robust growth, which had surprised stakeholders, was in October last year, when the general index rose 9.87 per cent.
In March, the industrial output rose by 0.1 per cent, largely losing the momentum generated in February when it had risen by two per cent, after a three-month fall.
The March figure was boosted solely by electricity generation, which rose by 11 per cent from the 9.6 per cent rise seen in February. The mining output, however, was contracted by 0.1 per cent, a sharp fall considering the five per cent growth witnessed in February. The mining sector grew 2.2 per cent in FY16, compared with a 1.4 per cent rise in FY15.
IIP figure is an important measure of the economic performance given that it reflects consumer and investment demand.
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