The Hindu : Industry grows at 6.5 p.c. in Sept.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 13, 2003

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Industry grows at 6.5 p.c. in Sept.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 12. With a 6.5 per cent growth recorded in September, Indian industry has so far registered a 5.8 per cent growth in the first six months of the current fiscal. This is a slight improvement over the 5.4 per cent growth registered in the first half of last fiscal.

The higher growth this year is purely due to the spurt in the manufacturing sector, which performed better to notch a 6.3 per cent growth against 5.5 per cent.

Otherwise, the mining sector grew only 4.2 per cent against 6.5 per cent and electricity generation too recorded a lower growth of 2.9 per cent against 3.4 per cent. Thus, the overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registered a 5.8 per cent growth during April-September against 5.4 per cent in the same period last year.

Data for September alone show a 4.4 per cent growth in mining against one per cent in September 2002, 6.8 per cent in manufacturing against 7.6 per cent and 5 per cent in electricity generation against a decline of 0.4 per cent. The overall IIP for September projected a 6.5 per cent growth against 6.2 per cent in the same month last year.

Use-based statistics released by the Central Statistical Organisation show that basic goods production was up 4.6 per cent in April-September this year against 4.9 per cent in the same months of last year.

Capital goods production was up 8.6 per cent against 9.4 per cent, intermediate goods by 4.2 per cent against 1.9 per cent and consumer goods by 8.2 per cent.

In this segment, consumer durables were up by 5.4 per cent against a decline of 6.3 per cent and consumer non-durables were up 9.1 per cent against 14.2 per cent.

Data for September alone show basic goods production was up 5.9 per cent against 1.8, capital goods by 9.1 per cent against 16.6 per cent, intermediate goods by 6.4 per cent against 2 per cent and consumer goods by 6.4 per cent against 12.8 per cent. In this segment, consumer durables were up 8.2 per cent against a decline of 10.3 per cent and consumer non-durables by 5.7 per cent against a 23.8 per cent growth.

In the two-digit industry group, 11 out of 17 specified industries reported positive growth. Paper and paper products and printing, publishing and allied industries recorded the highest growth of 29.7 per cent, followed by 25.2 per cent in wood and wood products, furniture and fixtures and 22.6 per cent in transport equipment and parts. On the other hand, jute and other vegetable fibre textiles (except cotton) declined by 10.7 per cent, followed by 7.8 per cent decline in cotton textiles and 2.1 per cent in other manufacturing industries.

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