Industrial output grows 6.7% on manufacturing, electricity

NEW DELHI: Industrial production grew 6.7% in Sept as against 6.1% expansion recorded a year ago, on account of strong manufacturing and electricity output.Sequentially, however, industrial production witnessed deceleration from a downward revised figure of 7.8% in Aug, official data released Wednesday showed. During April-Sept, the index of industrial production (IIP) grew 6.8%, compared with 4.4% a year ago.Manufacturing, which has a weight of 76% in the index, grew 7.6% as 17 out of 23 industry groups witnessed an increase in output, led by beverages, electrical equipment, transport equipment, rubber, textiles, furniture among others.Electricity and gas supply expanded 11.2% on account of higher temperature due to heat wave conditions. Electricity production from conventional sources recorded double-digit growth (16.5%) in Sept, while there was a moderate growth in electricity output from renewable sources (4.3%). The newly added water supply, sewerage and waste management sector grew 5.8%. Activity in the mining and quarrying contracted further (-6.2%) during the month, led by the non-metallic minerals segment with output declining in eight of the last nine months.In the use-based category -- capital goods (10.4%) and intermediate goods (12.2%) industries registered double-digit output, reflecting the impact of sustained public capex in the economy. Capital goods, too, grew 7.2% during the month.Output in consumer durables, which reflect consumer sentiments, witnessed deceleration (6%) during the month, while consumer non-durables recorded acceleration in growth (1.4%) in Sept, after remaining in the contractionary zone in Aug.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.