For the first time in nine months, industrial growth slipped to single digit at 7.1 per cent in June this year — a 13-month low — following a drop in factory output. Also responsible for the deceleration were the other two segments, mining and electricity generation, which posted lower growth as compared to the performance in the same month last year.
According to the Index of Industrial Production data released here on Thursday, the growth in manufacturing — constituting nearly 80 per cent of the IIP basket — slipped to 7.3 per cent in June from 8 per cent in June 2009. Likewise, mining output also witnessed a growth of 9.5 per cent during the month as against 14.2 per cent a year ago while electricity generation was up by a mere 3.5 per cent as compared to eight per cent.
For Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the IIP data for June was below his expecactions. “I expected it to be a little better,” he said.
