India's industrial output up 2.4 percent in November
Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 15:47 IST   |    3 Comments
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New Delhi: After registering a fall in October for the first time in 15 years on account of the global economic slowdown, India's industrial production rose by 2.4 percent the next month, latest official data showed Monday. The welcome increase in November came after a 0.3 percent drop in October in the index of industrial production (IIP), data released by the Central Statistical Organization showed. "The improvement in the November 2008 industrial data kindles the hope that the slowdown could be getting arrested," said Amit Mitra, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). "This is the time to ensure that the elements of the stimulus package are implemented effectively," he said, referring to the two packages announced by the government since December and measures taken by the central bank. The Ficci secretary general emphasized that the government must also look into the issue of dumping of products from China into the Indian market as this is inflicting some pain on the domestic producers. As per the latest data, the manufacturing sector, which accounts for around 80 percent of the weight, rose 2.4 percent in November, following a decline of 1.1 percent the previous month, while mining grew by 0.5 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. Electricity generation also rose 3.1 percent compared with 4.4 percent gain in the previous month. Cumulatively, industrial production for the first eight months was up 3.9 percent, against 9.2 per cent in the corresponding period of 2007-08. Another set of data showed that the index for six core industries with a total weight of a little over 25 percent in IIP, was up 2.2 percent in November, as against 3.1 percent in October. The six industries are crude oil, refined products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel.
Source: IANS