India's industry output contracts 1.9% in November, bucks revival trend

India's industrial output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), contracts 1.9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the month of November, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Tuesday. The country's industrial output had grown by 2.1 per cent in November 2019 and 4.2 per cent (revised) in October 2020, the government data showed.

During April-November period of the fiscal year 2020-21, the industrial production contracted 15.5 per cent as against a 0.3 per cent growth in the year ago period, the data from MoSPI showed.   

The contraction in November IIP growth was led by a 7.3 per cent decline in mining sector and 1.7 per cent fall in manufacturing space. The electricity sector grew 3.5 per cent year-on-year, the data showed.

"For the month of November 2020, the quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 stands at 126.3. The indices of industrial production for the mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors for the month of November 2020 stand at 104.5, 128.4 and 144.8 respectively," the MoSPI said.

As per use-based classification, the indices stand at 121.3 for primary goods, 84.6 for capital goods, 136.7 for intermediate goods and 135.5 for infrastructure/ construction goods for the month of November 2020.  Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stand at 115.9 and 149.1 respectively for the month of November 2020.

The October IIP growth has been revised to 4.2 per cent, from 3.6 per cent earlier. It was the fastest in last 7 months after it turned positive in September, following a six months of contraction.

Commenting on November IIP data, Deepthi Mathew, Economist at Geojit Financial Services, said, "The contraction in IIP is a cause of concern. It shows the weak demand in the economy. The manufacturing sector contracted by 1.68 per cent in November'20, compared to a growth of 4.12 per cent in October'20. Festive demand aided the positive growth in October"

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