Industrial production grows 1.9% in March

Mining output climbed 4%, and power generation increased 6.1%

India's industrial output growth marginally improved but remained below 2 per cent for the fifth consecutive month in March as manufacturing with the largest share in the industrial output index and capital goods, a barometer of investment in the economy, remained weak.

Industrial output growth came in at 1.9 per cent in April compared to a year ago, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed. The manufacturing sector output expanded a meagre 0.9 per cent, mining sector grew 4 per cent and power generation increased 6.1 per cent.

The IIP had grown by 24.2 per cent in March 2021.

Capital goods output grew 0.7 per cent in March against 50.4 per cent a year ago.

The consumer durables segment declined to 3.2 per cent against a growth of 59.9 per cent a year ago. Consumer non-durables too declined, depicting adverse consumption by households.

"The IIP growth has improved marginally in March but has broadly remained lacklustre at below 2 per cent in the last five months. Manufacturing, with the biggest share in industrial growth has remained weak. Another concerning aspect is the continued poor performance of consumer durables and non-durables segment that has contracted in March. For India’s economy to recover, it is very critical for consumption expenditure to start improving, which in turn will help improve capacity utilisation levels and start the private investment cycle. The rising inflation will be a further dampener for consumption spending. The silver lining in this lacklustre IIP data is the healthy performance of the infrastructure sector," said CareEdge in its reaction.

The ministry said the growth rates over the corresponding period of the previous year are to be interpreted considering the unusual circumstances on account of the pandemic since March 2020.