IIP output enters negative zone first time in 4 years, contracts 0.1% in June

New Delhi: Industrial output entered the negative territory in June contracting by 0.1 percent, a four year low, mainly due to decline in manufacturing and capital goods sectors. Besides, segments like mining, power generation, infrastructure/construction goods and consumer durables recorded poor performance. Factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production, grew 8 percent in June 2016, according to the data released by the Central Statistics Office on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_3920523” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] On a quarterly basis, factory output growth during April-June slowed down to 2 percent from 7.1 percent in the corresponding period last year. The IIP grew by 3.4 percent in April and 2.8 percent May as per the revised estimates released on Friday. Manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 77 percent of the index, showed a decline of 0.4 percent in June as compared to a growth of 7.5 percent in the same month last year. The output of mining and electricity sectors during the month decelerated to 0.4 percent and 2.1 percent from 10.2 percent and 9.8 percent respectively in June last year. Capital goods output, which is the barometer of investment, declined by 6.8 percent from a growth of 14.8 percent a year ago. Similarly, the output of primary goods and intermediate goods during the month declined by 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent as against growth of 8.2 percent and 6 percent respectively during June last year. The Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables have recorded growth of (-) 2.1 percent and 4.9 percent respectively. In terms of industries, 15 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during the month of June 2017 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.