Media365
India’s industrial production accelerated to 7.3 per cent year-on-year in June, surpassing market expectations, driven by robust manufacturing activity, higher electricity generation and a recovery in mining output, according to official data released on Tuesday.
The latest reading was higher than the 5.7 per cent growth forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and marked a sharp improvement from May’s revised 5.0 per cent expansion.
Manufacturing, which carries the highest weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew 7.8 per cent in June, up from a revised 5.2 per cent in the previous month. The improvement comes amid increased government spending and sustained industrial activity.
Electricity generation continued its strong momentum, rising 10.6 per cent year-on-year in June, compared with a revised 10.3 per cent increase in May. Mining output also returned to positive territory, expanding 1 per cent, after contracting 1.4 per cent in the previous month.
Among use-based industries, consumer durables, including automobiles and mobile phones, recorded 7.7 per cent growth, slightly lower than the revised 8 per cent growth in May. Meanwhile, capital goods output, a key indicator of investment demand, rose 14.2 per cent, easing from a revised 15.5 per cent increase a month earlier.
For the April-June quarter, India’s industrial output grew 5.8 per cent, significantly higher than the 3.4 per cent expansion recorded in the corresponding period last year.
The June data also reflects the government’s revised methodology for calculating factory output, with producer prices replacing wholesale prices from May onwards.
