NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s industrial output grew at its fastest pace in four months in July, aided by a rise in manufacturing activity, government data showed on Thursday.
Industrial output grew 3.5% year-on-year last month, higher than 2.1% projected by economists in a Reuters poll. Industrial output grew 1.5% year-on-year in June.
KEY NUMBERS
* Manufacturing output was up 5.4% in July as compared to a revised 3.7% rise in June.
* Electricity generation grew 0.6% against a revised fall of 1.2% in June.
* Mining activity showed a drop of 7.2% year-on-year against a fall of 8.7% a month ago.
* Output of consumer durables, including cards and phones, rose 7.7% as compared to a revised growth of 2.8% in June.
* Output of consumer non-durables, such as food items and toiletries, rose 0.5% as compared to a revised fall of 0.9% in June.
* Capital goods output increased 5% as compared to a revised growth of 3% in June.
* Industrial output in April-July grew 2.3% as compared to a revised increase of 5.4% a year ago.
High growth in consumer durables and muted growth in non-durables is a “reflection of the views expressed by companies that urban demand has been down while rural has held up,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Sonia Cheema)
