Industrial Growth Falls to 9-Month Low in May

INDIA'S INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT growth slowed to a nine-month low in May to 1.2% on-year, dragged down by dismal manufacturing and contraction in electricity generation and mining.

- Mukesh Jagota

The manufacturing sector, which has a weight of 77.6% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), saw its growth slowing to 2.6% in May from a revised 3.1% in April.

The electricity sector contracted 5.8% on-year in May from a growth of 1.7% in April, while the mining sector output was down 0.1%.

"The early onset of monsoon doused the activity in mining and demand for electricity," Icra chief economist Aditi Nayar said.

Within the manufacturing sector, the output of electronics (-3.4%), pharma (-3.1%), textiles (-2.7%), leather (-4.9%), beverages (-4.0%) and chemicals (-4.8%) contracted when compared to last year.