The Hindu Business Line : Manufacturing propels IIP to 7.4 pc in Nov

The growth was higher for all the three sectors constituting the general IIP — manufacturing(8.1 per cent (4.3), mining 4.1 per cent (3.7) and electricity 4.3 per cent (3.5).

New Delhi , Jan. 12

INDIA Inc appears to be on a sustained resurgence mode, with the official Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registering a year-on-year increase of 7.4 per cent in November 2003 led by an 8.1 per cent manufacturing sector growth.

According to the latest IIP data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) here on Monday, the 7.4 per cent overall growth rate for November was way above the 4.1 per cent figure recorded for the same month of the previous year.

Moreover, the growth was higher for all the three sectors constituting the general IIP — manufacturing (8.1 per cent versus 4.3 per cent), mining (4.1 per cent versus 3.7 per cent) and electricity (4.3 per cent versus 3.5 per cent).

The cumulative growth for industry as a whole during April-November 2003 worked out to 6.2 per cent (against 5.4 per cent during April-November 2002), while correspondingly being 6.8 per cent (5.6 per cent) for manufacturing, 3.9 per cent (5.8 per cent) for mining and 3.1 per cent (4 per cent) for electricity.

The `use-based' classification of the IIP provides an even more encouraging picture. Production of capital goods — which is a reliable proxy for level of investment activity taking place in the economy — in November 2003, went up by 12.1 per cent, over and above the 10 per cent growth. For April-November 2003, the growth rate of capital goods amounted to 8.8 per cent, compared to 10.4 per cent during the corresponding eight months of 2002-03.

The growth rates were uniformly higher during November 2003 also in the case of basic goods (5.3 per cent against 3.4 per cent in November 2002), intermediate goods (8.9 per cent versus 4 per cent) and consumer durables (14.1 per cent versus minus 1.4 per cent), while being marginally lower for consumer non-durables (4.7 per cent versus 5.2 per cent).

For April-November 2003, the cumulative growth rates were 4.5 per cent (4.8 per cent during April-November 2002) for basic goods, 5.4 per cent (2.6 per cent) for intermediate goods, 7.6 per cent (minus 5.9 per cent) for consumer durables and 8.2 per cent (12.9 per cent) for consumer non-durables.

The two-digit level of the IIP's classification showed that the main growth drivers during April-November 2003 were `paper & paper products and printing, publishing & allied industries' (up 22.3 per cent), `transport equipment and parts' (20.5 per cent), `beverages, tobacco and related products' (11.8 per cent) and `basic metal and alloy industries' (11.6 per cent).

The reasonably performing industries included `food products' (6.9 per cent), `machinery and equipment other than transport equipment' (6.1 per cent), `non-metallic mineral products' (5.2 per cent), `rubber, plastic, petroleum and coal products' (5.1 per cent) and `basic chemicals & chemical products except those from petroleum and coal' (4.6 per cent).

The laggards were mainly `cotton textiles' (minus 6.3 per cent), `textile products, including wearing apparel' (0.5 per cent), `wool, silk and man-made fibre textiles' (3.7 per cent), `jute and other vegetable fibre textiles, except cotton' (minus 0.3 per cent) and `leather and leather & fur products' (minus 3.4 per cent).