Industrial production falls for 3rd straight month by 3.8% in October

Showing signs of economic slowdown, Industrial production shrank for third consecutive month in October by 3.8 per cent, mainly due to output fall in manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors, as per official data released on Thursday.

According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) data, the factory output declined by 4.3 per cent in September and 1.4 per cent in August this year, while it grew at 4.9 per cent in July.

Factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had expanded by 8.4 per cent in October 2018.

During April to October, the IIP growth remained almost flat at 0.5 per cent compared to 5.7 per cent in same period previous fiscal.

The manufacturing growth rate declined by 2.1 per cent in October as compared to 8.2 per cent a year ago.

Power generation growth slipped sharply by 12.2 per cent in October, compared to 10.8 per cent in the year-ago period.

Mining output too fell 8 per cent in the month under review as against 7.3 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Capital goods production, which is a barometer of investment, declined by 21.9 per cent in October compared to 16.9 per cent rise in the year-ago month.

As per use-based classification, the growth rates in October 2019 over October 2018 are (-) 6 per cent in Primary goods, 22.2 per cent in Intermediate goods and (-) 9.2 per cent in Infrastructure/ Construction Goods.

The consumer durables and consumer non-durables have recorded growth of (-) 18 per cent and (-) 1.1 per cent, respectively.

In terms of industries, 18 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during October 2019 as compared to the same month last year.

The industry group 'manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products' has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 31.3 per cent followed by (-) 27.9 per cent in 'Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers'.

On the other hand, the chemicals and its products have shown the highest positive growth of 31.8 per cent followed by 9.4 per cent in basic metals.