Factory output growth increases by 5.2% in Jan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10

India’s industrial production growth perked up slightly to 5.2% in January from 4.7% in December 2022, mainly due to good performance of the power, mining and manufacturing sectors, according to official data released on Friday.

Manufacturing sector grows by 3.7%

• The manufacturing sector’s output grew 3.7% in January 2023 from 1.9% a year ago
• Mining output rose 8.8% during the month under review compared to 3% in January 2022
• Power generation also surged 12.7% in January 2023 against 0.9% in the year-ago month
• The capital goods segment recorded a growth of 11% in January against a growth of 1.8% in the corresponding month of the last fiscal

There was an improvement on an annual as well as sequential basis. The factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at two per cent in January 2022.

As per the IIP data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the manufacturing sector’s output grew 3.7% in January 2023 from 1.9% a year ago.

Mining output rose 8.8% as compared to 3% in January 2022. Power generation surged 12.7% in against 0.9% in the year-ago month.

The capital goods segment recorded a growth of 11% in January against a growth of 1.8% in the corresponding month of the last fiscal.

Consumer durables output declined by 7.5% compared to a contraction of 4.4% a year ago. Infrastructure/construction goods too posted a growth of 8.1% compared to a 5.9% expansion in the same month of 2022. The data also showed that the output of primary goods logged 9.6% growth in the month against 1.6% in the year-ago period.

“The 5.2% growth in IIP for January has come slightly ahead of the estimates of 5%. The average since April 2022 has been 5.4%. Therefore, the January number has come quite close to the average. It is a significant improvement from 4.3% growth in December,” said Mohit Ralhan of TIW Capital.