The manufacturing sector grew at a 5-month high of 3.9% in June 2025, up from 3.2% in May and 3.5% in June of last year. Representational file image.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

New Delhi:

India’s industrial production growth slowed to a three-month low of 3.2 per cent in December 2024, mainly due to poor performance of mining and manufacturing sectors, according to official data released on Wednesday.

The government has also revised the November 2024 industrial output figure to 5 per cent from the provisional estimate of 5.2 per cent released in the previous month.

The pace of factory output growth stood at the same level of 3.2 per cent in September and flat in August 2024. The growth was recorded at 3.7 per cent in October 2024.

The country’s factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed a growth of 4.4 per cent in December 2023.

India’s Index of Industrial Production increased by 3.2 per cent in December 2024, an official statement said.

The data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the manufacturing sector’s output grew 3 per cent in December 2024, down from 4.6 per cent in the year-ago month.

Mining production growth declined to 2.6 per cent from 5.2 per cent year-on-year.

Power output increased to 6.2 per cent in December 2024 from 1.2 per cent a year ago.

In the April-December 2024 period, the IIP grew 4 per cent, slower than 6.3 per cent recorded in the year-ago period.

As per use-based classification, the capital goods segment growth accelerated to 10.3 per cent in December 2024 against a growth of 3.7 per cent in the year-ago period.

Consumer durables (or white goods production) grew by 8.3 per cent during the reporting month against a growth of 5.2 per cent in December 2023.

In December 2024, consumer non-durables output contracted 7.6 per cent in December last year compared to a growth of 3 per cent in December 2023.

According to the data, infrastructure/construction goods reported a growth of 6.3 per cent in December 2024, up from a 5.5 per cent expansion in the year-ago period.

The data also showed that the output of primary goods logged a 3.8 per cent growth in December 2024 against 4.8 per cent a year earlier.

The expansion in the intermediate goods segment was 5.9 per cent in the month under review, higher than 3.7 per cent a year ago.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Image for representative purpose
| Photo Credit: PTI

India’s industrial output growth dropped to a four-month low of 3.2% in December, with manufacturing and mining sectors rising just 3% and 2.6%, respectively, and consumer non-durables’ production slipping 7.6% from a year ago.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) also downgraded the industrial production growth assessment for November 2024 to 5% from 5.2% estimated earlier. Despite the weaker growth number relative to the previous month and December 2023, when factory output had risen 4.4%, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was at a nine-month high.

At 157.3 points, the IIP was 6.1% over November, and reflected the strongest output levels in financial year 2024-25. The Manufacturing as well as the Mining sectors recorded their best index reading this year.

Electricity generation was up 6.2% year-on-year and 4.7% over November 2024 levels.

Five of six industrial segments based on the end-use of products recorded an uptick in December, led by capital goods (up 10.3%) and consumer durables (8.3%). Infrastructure and construction goods rose 6.3, while intermediate goods and primary goods grew 5.9% and 3.8%, respectively.

Consumer non-durables remained a worry, with production shrinking 7.6% in December and the mere 0.6% growth estimated for November being revised downward to 0.4%. However, absolute output levels were at an 11-month high in December and 5.1% over November.

Within manufacturing, 16 of 23 industry groups recorded growth in December, with electrical equipment (up 40.1%), basic metals (up 6.7%), and coke and refined petroleum products (rising 3.9%), making the most significant contribution to growth. Based on end-use classification, the top three contributors to growth in December were primary, intermediate and infrastructure/construction goods.

Image used for representational purpose.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

India’s factory activity levels dropped to a three-month low in May, with output levels easing due to the heat wave that led a reduction in working hours amid intensive heat and a rise in production costs that flared up to a level only experienced once over the previous 21 months, as per the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).

The seasonally adjusted index, that reflects an uptick in activity levels when its score is over 50, declined from 58.8 in April to 57.5 in May.

Also read | Industrial output slows to 4.9% in March

Fresh orders for factories moderated to the lowest level since February, with election-related disruptions and competition affecting domestic demand sources, even as export orders grew at the fastest pace in over 13 years, as per the findings of the survey-based PMI. Despite the moderation, new orders and output rose at a substantial pace, the index statement noted.

While input costs and output charges headed north, producers expressed the highest level of positive sentiment towards growth prospects in nearly nine-and-a-half years, partly based on expectations that economic and demand conditions will remain favourable. This optimism triggered a nearly 19-year high for job creation in factories surveyed by S&P Global for compiling the PMI.

“Ongoing strong sales performances combined with upbeat growth forecasts fuelled job creation in May. Manufacturing employment rose to one of the greatest extents seen since data collection started in March 2005,” the statement said.

Jobs growth, parallel to rising material and freight costs, underpinned a quicker increase in input costs at goods producers. The overall rate of inflation remained below its long-run average, but picked up to its joint-highest since August 2022,” the PMI release stated.

Reacting to the rise in operating expenses, firms raised own selling prices in May at a pace that was the fastest in eight months. However, this price hike only constituted part of the surge in production costs leading to a squeeze in margins for manufacturers, HSBC’s global economist Maitreyi Das pointed out.

“The manufacturing sector remained in expansionary territory in May, albeit the pace of expansion slowed, led by a softer rise in new orders and output. Panellists cited heatwaves as a reason for lower work hours in May, which may have affected production volumes,” Ms. Das said.

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India’s industrial output growth slowed to 4.9% in March from 5.6% in February, as per the National Statistical Office, with base effects from last March boosting the uptick as output had tanked 1.9% last year.

Mining output slid to a 19-month low growth of 1.2%, while electricity generation rose 8.6% from a 1.6% contraction in March 2023.

Manufacturing, which constitutes 77.6% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew at a five-month high pace of 5.2% in March, relative to a mild 1.5% uptick in the same month last year. Manufacturing growth for February was revised downwards to 4.9% from 5% estimated earlier.

Electricity generation rose 8.6% in march 2024 from a 1.6% contraction in March 2023. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

India’s industrial output growth slowed to 4.9% in March from 5.6% in February, as per the National Statistical Office, with base effects from last March when output had tanked 1.9%, boosting the uptick. Mining output slid to a 19-month low growth of 1.2%, while electricity generation rose 8.6% from a 1.6% contraction in March 2023.

Manufacturing, which constitutes 77.6% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew at a five-month high pace of 5.2% in March, relative to a mild 1.5% uptick in the same month last year. Manufacturing growth for February was revised downwards to 4.9% from 5% estimated earlier, along with the month’s IIP growth which was downgraded from 5.7%.

Overall industrial output grew 5.8% in 2023-24, a tad higher than the 5.2% rise in the previous year, with manufacturing output growing 5.5% compared with 4.7% in 2022-23 and mining output accelerating by 7.5% last year from a 5.8% rise in the preceding year. Electricity generation grew 7.1% in 2023-24, easing from an 8.9% surge in the previous year.

Seven of 23 major manufacturing segments recorded a contraction in March, but as many as ten segments reported a drop in output through 2023-24, including wearing apparel (-14.2%), computers and electronics (-11.4%), furniture (-6.9%), wood products (-5.9%), chemicals (-1.7%) and leather (-1.1%).

Consumer goods remained the weakest performers through last year, despite beneficial base effects. Consumer durables grew the weakest at 3.6% compared with a meagre 0.6% rise in 2022-23, while non-durables rose 4% vis-à-vis a 0.7% uptick in the previous year.

In March, consumer durables output recorded the sharpest surge for the second month in a row, rising 9.5%, albeit over an 8% contraction in March 2023. In February, they had grown 12.3% relative to a 4.1% contraction a year ago. Consumer non-durables broke a two-month streak of contraction to rise 4.9%, but again over a weak base from March 2023, when they shrank 1.9%.

“The consumption scenario remained mixed last year with urban demand showing resilience while rural demand continued to lag,” said Rajani Sinha, CareEdge Ratings’ chief economist. While hopes of a good monsoon, moderating inflation, and pick-up in rural demand are positives, a broad-based and durable improvement in consumption remains the key monitorable this year, she stressed.

Infrastructure and construction goods continued to record healthy growth at 6.9% in March, while capital goods growth picked up to 6.1% from just 1.2% in February. Intermediate goods and primary goods rose 5.1% and 2.5%, respectively.

Over the full year gone by, Infrastructure and Construction goods recorded the strongest growth of 9.6% over an 8.4% rise in 2022-23, followed by capital goods which grew 6.2% compared with a 13.1% rise in the previous year. Primary and intermediate goods grew 6% and 5.2%, respectively.

Although a majority of high-frequency indicators have seen an uptick in April over March trends, ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said she expects industrial output growth to slow to around 3% to 4% in April owing to base effects as the same month had seen a 4.6% uptick in 2023.

In absolute terms, the industrial output index was up 8.22% from February with a sequential rise in output recorded in Manufacturing, Mining and Electricity, as well as the six end-use-based classifications of factory output.