Economy still under pressure, industrial output dips 0.4 per cent in Sept

India's industrial production contracted by 0.4 per cent in September due to a dismal show by manufacturing sector and decline in consumer as well as capital goods output.

Growth in overall factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) , was 2.5 per cent in September last year.

Industrial output in the April-September period this financial year was 1 per cent, down from 5.1 per cent in the same period in 2011-12.

Meanwhile the industrial production growth rate for August this year was revised downward to 2.3 per cent from earlier provisional estimates of 2.7 per cent released last month.

Indicating persistent sluggishness in the economy , the output of manufacturing sector contracted by 1.5 per cent in September, against a growth of 3.1 per cent in the same month last year.

Manufacturing sector constitutes over 75 per cent of the index.

The production in the manufacturing sector in April-September this year also dipped by 0.4 per cent, against a growth of 5.5 per cent in the same period in 2011-12.

Capital goods output declined by 12.2 per cent in September, against a contraction of 6.5 per cent in September 2011.

Output of capital goods contracted in the April-September period by 13.7 per cent, against growth of 4.6 per cent in the 2011-12 period.

However, mining output in September grew 5.5 per cent, against a contraction of 7.5 per cent in same month last year. The sector's production in April-September was flat as compared to a contraction of 1.6 per cent in a year ago.

Consumer goods production was down by 0.3 per cent in September, against a growth of 5.7 per cent in same month last year. In April-September period of this financial year, the growth in the segment was 2.5 per cent, compared to 4.7 per cent in the first half of last financial year.

With inputs from PTI