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In line with weak performance by the mining sector, India’s factory output growth, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed marginally to 4.9 per cent month-on-month in March 2024, as compared to 5.6 per cent in February 2024. However, it was 1.9 per cent in March 2023. For the month of March 2024, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stood at 159.2. For the fiscal 2023-24, IIP growth touched 5.8 per cent against 5.2 per cent in the preceding financial year.

As per the latest data, the mining output growth decelerated to 1.2 per cent in March against a 6.8 per cent expansion in the year-ago month. The manufacturing sector’s growth accelerated to 5.2 per cent in March compared to 1.5 per cent a year ago. The power generation increased by 8.6 per cent in March against a contraction of 1.6 per cent in the same month of the last year. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of March 2024 stood at 156.1, 155.1 and 204.2 respectively. The cumulative growth rates of the three sectors, Mining at 7.5 per cent, Manufacturing at 5.5 per cent and Electricity at 7.1 per cent for the period of April-March 2023-24 over the corresponding period of the previous.

As per use-base classification, the output of primary goods logged 2.5 per cent growth in March this year, down from 3.3 per cent a year earlier. The capital goods segment growth fell to 6.1 per cent in March 2024 from 10 per cent in the year-ago period. The expansion in the intermediate goods segment was 5.1 per cent in the month under review, higher than the 1.8 per cent recorded in the same period a year ago. Infrastructure/construction goods reported a growth of 6.9 in March 2024 against a 7.2 per cent expansion in the year-ago period. Consumer durables output expanded 9.5 per cent. It had contracted by 8 per cent in March 2023. Consumer non-durable goods production grew by 4.9 per cent during the month compared to a contraction of 1.9 per cent in March 2023.