India’s industrial production growth fell to a three-month low of 5% in April 2024, primarily due to a weaker performance in the manufacturing sector, despite strong contributions from the mining and power segments, according to official data released on Wednesday.
Factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had grown by 5.4% in March and 5.6% in February 2024. The previous low for IIP was 4.2% in January 2024. For the fiscal year 2023-24, IIP growth was 5.9%, compared to 5.2% in the preceding fiscal year.
In April 2024, India’s IIP grew by 4.6%, according to the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation. The latest data revealed that mining output growth accelerated to 6.7% in April, up from 5.1% in the same month last year. However, manufacturing sector growth decelerated to 3.9% in April from 5.5% a year ago. Power generation increased significantly by 10.2% in April, compared to a contraction of 1.1% in April of the previous year.
In terms of use-based classification, the capital goods segment’s growth fell to 3.1% in April 2024 from 4.4% in the same period last year. Consumer durables output expanded by 9.8% in April, rebounding from a contraction of 2.3% in April 2023. Conversely, consumer non-durable goods production contracted by 2.4% in April 2024, following an 11.4% growth in April 2023.
Infrastructure and construction goods reported an 8% growth in April 2024, down from a 13.4% expansion in the previous year. Primary goods output grew by 7% in April 2024, a significant increase from the 1.9% growth recorded a year earlier. The intermediate goods segment saw an expansion of 3.2% in April 2024, up from 1.7% in the same period last year.