Correct Answer : Option (A) - 1.1%
India's industrial output grew by 1.1% in March 2023 - the slowest pace in 5 months - data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 12 May 2023 showed.
* Industrial growth, as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), for February 2023 has been revised up to 5.8% from 5.6%.
* At 1.1%, the March 2023 IIP growth figure is well below the consensus estimate of 3.2%.
* For 2022-23 as a whole, industrial production clocked a growth of 5.1% as against 11.4% in 2021-22.
* The sharp fall in industrial growth in March was due to the manufacturing and electricity segments stagnating.
* In March, output of the manufacturing sector - which accounts for more than three-fourth of the IIP - rose by a mere 0.5 percent on a year-on-year basis as against a 5.6% increase in February. To make matters worse, electricity production was down 1.6 percent compared to an 8.2 percent rise in February.
* However, on a sequential basis, manufacturing output was up 6.4% from February, while electricity production was 8.0% higher.
* The third sector, mining, saw its output rise by 6.8 percent year-on-year and 19.3% on a month-on-month basis.
* Going by the use-based classification of goods, five of the six categories posted weaker numbers in March.
* Growth in primary goods' output more than halved to 3.3% from 6.9% in February, while capital goods saw their production rise by a respectable 8.1% in March - albeit lower than the 10.5% growth they had posted in February.
* Production of infrastructure goods was up 5.4% compared to 8.4% in February.
* But the worst showing came from the cosumer goods, with output of both durables and non-durables contracting in March by 8.4% and 3.1%, respectively.
* In February, production of consumer durables had fallen by 4.1%, while that of non-durables had surged 12.1%.
* Only intermediate goods showed any improvement in performance, with their output increasing by 1%, marginally higher than 0.7% in February 2023.
* The poor industrial performance in March is much worse than what was expected, with the most pessimistic estimate in Moneycontrol's survey being a 2.0% growth. However, the actual number coming just over half that figure will be of concern to policymakers and could be a sign of things to come, with GDP data for January-March set to be released on May 31..
Source : Money Control