Industrial output grows by 2.6 pc in Jan

India's industrial production grew 2.6 per cent in January, mainly driven by growth in the manufacturing and capital goods sector.

In December, the factory output had grown only 1.7 per cent.

The production of capital goods, a barometer of demand in the economy, grew 12.8 per cent in January as against a contraction of 3.9 per cent in same month of last year. Manufacturing grew 3.3 per cent in year-on-year. Manufacturing had grown merely 0.3 per cent in a year ago period.

An extremely slow growth in the eight key infrastructure sectors in January had pointed to a slower industrial output growth. But the factory output growth surprised the street.

As per the official data, 14 out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed growth in January.  The output in mining sector, however, contracted by 2.8 per cent in January, compared with a growth of 2.7 per cent in the same month last year.

The consumer goods output, too, declined 1.9 per cent in January compared to a dip of 0.5 per cent in last year.