IIP growth at 14-mth low in October

India’s industrial production growth slowed to a 14-month low of 0.4 per cent in October, down from an upwardly revised 4.6 per cent in September, due to fewer working days and a sharp decline in electricity generation, according to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday.

- HIMANSHI BHARDWAJ

The last time Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth was lower than October's was in August 2024, when output had flattened.

In October 2024, growth in IIP had stood at 3.7 per cent. In the first seven months of the current financial year (April-October), average IIP growth was 2.7 per cent, compared with 4 per cent in the same period of the previous financial year.

Data showed that manufacturing output, which accounts for about 78 per cent of the index, grew 1.8 per cent in October, down from 5.6 per cent in September. Mining output contracted for the second consecutive month by 1.8 per cent, while electricity generation fell 6.9 percent. The statistics ministry credited the decline in electricity generation to an extended monsoon and milder temperatures across several states and Union Territories.