In a confirmation of sorts that sustained economic recovery is under way, the growth in industrial production accelerated to a robust 9.1 per cent in September this year from six per cent notched up in the same month in the previous year.
According to the IIP (Index of Industrial Production) data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) here on Thursday, all the three major sectors, namely, manufacturing, mining and electricity generation, witnessed markedly higher growth during the month as compared to September 2008.
A scrutiny of the industrial production numbers reveals that even the consumer durables segment, which had been a laggard in 2008-09 and also during the earlier months this fiscal, saw a considerable increase in production to keep pace with the robust demand for these items, perhaps owing to the onset of the festival season. However, while 12 out of 17 industries witnessed positive growth, among the segments that failed to perform were consumer non-durables and food processing.
Assuming that the surge in consumer demand persists beyond the festive season, analysts believe that economic recovery would then be on a firm footing and could even compensate for the decline in farm production and exports. Already, owing to the good numbers in September, the cumulative growth in industrial output during the first half of 2009-10 surged to 6.5 per cent from 5 per cent in the same period a year ago despite the continuing slump in exports.
While growth in the manufacturing sector soared to 9.3 per cent in September as against 6.2 per cent in the same month a year ago, mining output was up 8.6 per cent as compared to 5.8 per cent. Alongside, electricity generation also went up by 7.9 per cent from 4.4 per cent last year.
Within the manufacturing sector, the consumer durables segment — which was mauled by the meltdown since October 2008 — witnessed a whopping growth of 22.2 per cent in September this year despite the high base of 14.7 per cent in September 2008.
Likewise, intermediate goods also showed a production growth of 10.8 per cent as compared to a decline of 2.5 per cent, while the basic goods segment was up 5.7 per cent against five per cent. Capital goods production also went up by 12.8 per cent on a high base of 20.8 per cent. As for the laggards, consumer non-durables witnessed lower growth at a mere 2.6 per cent as against 4.8 per cent a year ago while processed food products declined by 10.2 per cent.
Commenting on the better-than-expected IIP numbers, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ajay Shankar said: “The recovery is broad-based and sustainable.”
