IIP growth slumps to 1.8 p.c. in Aug.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 12. Industrial growth continued to remain sluggish in August this year with the index of industrial production (IIP) growing by a mere 1.8 per cent in that month. The comparable figure for August 2000 was 5 per cent. Data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), thus, show that the overall growth of industrial production during April-August this year ended up at 2.2 per cent only, against a growth of 5.6 per cent in the corresponding period in the previous year.

The CSO data reveal that the mining sector grew at the rate of 0.1 per cent in August (against 4 per cent in August last year), the manufacturing sector by 2 per cent (5.5 per cent) and electricity generation by 1.9 per cent (1 per cent). The general index, therefore, increased by 1.8 per cent (5 per cent).

The corresponding figures for the April-August period showed that mining was down 0.7 per cent (against a positive growth of 3.4 per cent in April-August 2000), the manufacturing sector by 2.5 per cent (6.1 per cent) and electricity generation by 2.6 per cent (3.8 per cent). The general index for the first five months grew by 2.2 per cent (5.6 per cent).

Use-based data released by CSO show that basic goods production in August was up by 2.7 per cent (2.9 per cent), capital goods was down by 12.3 per cent (a positive growth of 3.5 per cent), intermediate goods by 2.1 per cent (6.9 per cent) and consumer goods by 5.8 per cent (5.9 per cent). In this segment, consumer durables grew by 15.7 per cent (16.1 per cent) and consumer non- durables by 2.1 per cent (2.3 per cent).

The corresponding figures for April-August 2001 show that basic goods production was up 1.6 per cent (4.7 per cent in the same period of last year), capital goods were down 8 per cent (a positive growth of 4.3 per cent), intermediate goods by 3.2 per cent (5.3 per cent) and consumer goods by 5.5 per cent (7.6 per cent). In this segment, consumer durables were up 10.7 per cent (20.8 per cent) and consumer non-durables by 3.5 per cent (3.3 per cent).

In the two-digit industry groups, nine out of the 17 sectors have shown positive growth during August. Leather in general and leather and fur products grew by 23.5 per cent followed by 19.1 per cent in case of beverages, tobacco and related products and 15.4 per cent in rubber, plastic, petroleum and coal products.

On the other hand, metal products and parts, except machinery and equipment, have shown a decline of 19.6 per cent, followed by a decline of 13.7 per cent in case of textile products and 8.2 per cent in cotton textiles.

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Section  : Business
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