India's industrial growth rebounds to 3.1% in September from contraction in August

After contracting to a 22-month low of 0.1 percent in August 2024, India's industrial growth rebounded to 3.1 percent in the month of September 2024, as all three major segments - mining, manufacturing and power generation - showed improvement. However, the growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) during the month was lower than 6.4 per cent registered in September 2023. The factory output had turned negative in August, mainly on account of floods affecting mining operations in the different parts of the country. According to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the Quick Estimates of IIP stood at 146.7 against 142.3 in September 2023. In the April-September period, industrial output increased by 4 percent, compared to revised 6.2 percent a year earlier.

As per the data, mining sector output grew by 0.2 percent, manufacturing production by 3.9 percent and electricity output by 0.5 percent in the month of September 2024. In August, the mining sector output contracted by 4.3 percent and power generation contracted by 3.7 percent. The growth in manufacturing too was muted at 1.1 percent. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of September 2024 stood at 111.7, 147.0 and 206.9 respectively. Within the manufacturing sector, top three positive contributors for the month of September 2024 are - ‘Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products’ (5.3 percent), ‘Manufacture of basic metals’ (2.5 percent), and ‘Manufacture of electrical equipment’ (18.7 percent). 

As per the use-based classification, the output of primary goods rose by 1.8 percent as against a growth of 8 percent a year earlier and contraction of 2.6 percent in August. The capital goods segment growth decelerated to 2.8 percent in September 2024 from 8.4 percent in the year-ago month, while it was up from 0.5 percent in previous month. The expansion in the intermediate goods segment was 4.2 percent over 6.2 percent in September 2023 and 3.0 percent in August 2024. Infrastructure/construction goods reported a growth of 3.3 percent in September 2024, down from a 10.1 percent expansion in the year-ago period and 2.2 percent in previous month. Consumer durable goods production expanded by 6.5 percent during the reporting month, up from one percent in September 2023 and 5.3 percent in August 2024. Consumer non-durables output grew by 2 percent against a growth of 2.7 percent in September 2023 and a contraction of 4.5 percent in previous month.