From Industrial activity to Air Traffic: The signs of economic revival

After seven months of consistent decline, industrial output, as measured by index of industrial production (IIP), finally recovered in September 2020. At 123.2, the index was marginally higher by 0.2 per cent when compared to the index in September 2019.

Non-POL exports recorded increase for the second successive month in October. Exports were up by two per cent. At $23.2 billion, non-POL exports recovered to pre-lockdown levels.

Revenue earning freight traffic on Indian Railways surged by 15.4 per cent YoY in October 2020. This was the second consecutive month of over 15 per cent rise and at 108.3 million tonnes, highest in nine months.

107.7 billion KwH of electricity was generated from conventional sources in October. This was well above the pre-lockdown average monthly generation of 104.9 billion Kwh. It was higher by 8.9 per cent compared to the same period last year. The high growth comes over a low base as generation had declined by 12.9 per cent to 98.9 billion Kwh in October 2019.

Domestic air traffic, which was completely missing from India's recovery story has, finally joined the bandwagon.