Industrial output growth dips to 3-month low of 2.2% in October

The factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had witnessed a rise of 4.2 per cent in October 2016, data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed. When compared on a monthly basis, the IIP grew 4.14 per cent in September this year. 

Industrial output rose by a meagre 2.5 per cent in April-October this fiscal as compared tow 5.5 per cent in the same period of 2016-17. In October, growth in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 77.63 per cent of the index, slowed to 2.5 per cent from 4.8 per cent a year earlier. 

During April-October, manufacturing grew by 2.1 pc, down from 5.9 pc in the same period last fiscal. Consumer durable goods output contracted by 6.9 per cent in October as against a growth of 1.5 per cent in the same month of the previous year. During the first seven months of this fiscal, the output of these goods declined by 1.9 per cent as against a growth of 6 per cent last year. Electricity generation rose 3.2 per cent in October as compared to 3 per cent a year before. The mining activity recorded almost flat growth of 0.2 per cent in the month under review as against 1 per cent growth in October 2016. 

Retail inflation hit a 15-month high of 4.88 pc in November due to costlier fuel, veggies and eggs, as per data released by the CSO. The inflation, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), was at 3.58 per cent in October. It was 3.63 per cent in November 2016.