Industrial production declines 10.4% in July; capital goods, consumer durables see max contraction

New Delhi: Industrial production shrank by 10.4 percent in July, mainly due to lower output of manufacturing, mining and power generation sectors, official data showed on Friday. Explaining the reasons behind the fall in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said a large number of industrial units were not operating from the end of March due to the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. “This has had an impact on the items being produced by the establishments during the period of lockdown,” it said in a statement. It further said industrial activity is resuming with the lifting of restrictions. The ministry added that it “may not be appropriate to compare the IIP in the post pandemic months with the IIP for months preceding the COVID 19 pandemic.” However, it said the index for the month of July 2020 stands at 118.1 as compared to 108.9 in June, 89.5 in May and 54 in April. According to the IIP data, factory output had registered a growth of 4.9 percent in July 2019. Meanwhile, the fall in IIP for June has been revised to (-) 15.77 pe cent from the provisional estimates of 16.6 percent contraction released last month. As per the data, manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63 percent of the IIP, recorded a decline of 11.1 percent in July as against a growth of 4.8 percent in same month last year. Similarly, mining sector output fell 13 percent in July as against a growth of 4.9 percent earlier. Power generation shrank by 2.5 percent as against a growth of 5.2 percent a year ago. Output of capital goods, which is a barometer of investment, fell by 22.8 percent in July as against a contraction of 7 percent a year ago. Consumer durables output also declined by 23.6 percent, as against a contraction of 2.4 percent in July 2019. Consumer non-durable goods production grew by 6.7 percent, as compared to a growth of 8.5 percent a year ago. The IIP for April-July period has contracted by 29.2 percent, according to the data. It had registered a growth of 3.5 percent during the same period last fiscal.