By Nikunj Ohri and Shivangi Acharya
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s industrial output rose 4.2% year-on-year in April, data from the Ministry of Statistics showed on Monday.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast an expansion of 1.8%. In March, output growth was revised to 1.7% from 1.1%.
Manufacturing, which accounts for about 17% of the Indian economy, rose 4.9% year-on-year in April compared with a provisional 0.5% year-on-year growth reported in March.
Electricity generation during April fell 1.1% over the same period a year earlier, while mining activities increased 5.1%, the data showed.
In the month of March, electricity generation provisionally fell 1.6%, while mining activities provisionally increased 6.8%.
Consumer durables fell 3.5% year-on-year in April, after a decline of 8.4% in the previous month.
“Negative growth for consumer durables is surprising given this is post-Rabi harvest season when demand typically picks up,” said Madan Sabnavis, economist at Bank of Baroda.
Infrastructure or construction goods grew 12.8% year-on-year in April, while consumer non-durables showed a growth of 10.7% as compared to last year. Capital goods grew 6.2% year-on-year during the month.
Performance of key economic indicators in May improved over the previous month, said Rahul Agarwal, economist at ICRA, adding industrial production growth should range between 4% and 6% in May.
(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri and Shivangi Acharya; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Toby Chopra)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.