With poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors, India’s factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), contracted for the second straight month by 3.6 per cent in February. This is the sharpest contraction the factory output has seen in six months. The index had grown by 5.2 per cent in February 2020. The IIP data for January 2021 has been revised to 0.9 per cent contraction from a 1.6 per cent decline. During April-February, the IIP contracted by 11.3 per cent compared to one per cent growth in the corresponding period of 2019-20.
The data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that for the month of February 2021, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stood at 129.4. The manufacturing sector -- which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the IIP -- declined by 3.7 per cent in February 2021. The mining sector output declined by 5.5 per cent in February 2021. However, power generation grew marginally by 0.1 per cent in the month under review. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of February 2021 stand at 116.5, 129.3 and 153.9 respectively.
The output of capital goods, which is a barometer of investment, slipped 4.2 per cent in February 2021, as against a contraction of 9.6 per cent a year ago. Consumer durables output grew by 6.3 per cent in the month under review, compared to a 6.2 per cent decline in February 2020. Consumer non-durable goods production fell 3.8 per cent the month, compared to a contraction of 0.3 per cent a year ago.
As per Use-based classification, the indices stand at 124.3 for Primary Goods, 93.3 for Capital Goods, 137.6 for Intermediate Goods and 138.2 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of February 2021. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stand at 124.7 and 147.6 respectively for the month of February 2021.