India’s industrial output growth slows to 3.2% in December

India’s industrial production growth, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) eased to 3.2% in December, down from a 6-month high of  5.2% in the previous month, according to data released by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday.

The slowdown was largely due to weaker manufacturing activity, which grew 3% in December compared to 5.5% in November.

Among key sectors, mining output rose 2.6% against 1.9% in November, while electricity generation expanded by 6.2%, up from 4.4% in the prior month.

A sector-wise breakdown showed that capital goods, a key indicator of investment demand, registered a robust 10.3% growth compared to 8.8% in November. Infrastructure and construction goods, however, slowed to 6.3% from 8.1%.

Consumer durables grew 8.3%, though this was significantly lower than the 14.1% expansion in November.

Consumer non-durables saw a sharp contraction of 7.6%, reversing from 0.4% growth in the previous month.

Despite the moderation, primary goods growth picked up to 3.8% from 2.7% in November, indicating steady demand for essential commodities.

The government will release the next set of industrial production data for January on March 12.