Industrial growth is expected to decelerate sharply in the first quarter of the current fiscal on the back of the country’s GDP registering a nine-year low growth of 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, a CII-ASCON Survey has said.

“The issues constraining production growth were low investment rate due to high interest rates, depreciating rupee and high inflation affecting cost and demand,” it said.

Besides, the survey said that deteriorating global economic scenario has affected export markets and lack of availability of credit to industry is another factor hurting the growth.

Industrial production fell 3.5 per cent in March for the first time in five months.

CII said the survey covered 114 sectors comprising more than 35,000 companies.

Sectors with high growth (10-20 per cent) are estimated to have decreased to 24.5 per cent in the first three months of 2012-13 from 31.8 per cent in the same period last year, it said.

Sectors such as cement and fertilisers, showing low growth (0-10 per cent), are estimated to have moved up to 52.6 per cent in April-June 2012 compared with 42.2 per cent in the same period last year, the survey stated.

Those showing 10-20 per cent growth fall in the high category and 0-10 per cent in the low group.

In order to spur investments and boost growth, industry chamber CII had asked the Government to step up measures to put the economy back on the growth trajectory.

“The situation calls for concerted efforts from the Government and RBI to ensure that there is a cohesive economic recovery plan,” Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, CII Director-General, said.

Hit hard by global woes and domestic problems, India’s economic growth rate slowed to a nine-year low, both in the March quarter at 5.3 per cent as well as in 2011-12 at 6.5 per cent.

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