NEW DELHI: Hopes of a revival in India’s manufacturing activity after a sharp spike in October were belied, with factory output actually registering a fall in the month after. To deal a further blow, the annual retail inflation also crept up to 5.61 per cent in December, according to official figures.
As per data on index of industrial production (IIP) released by the Central Statistics Office, the country’s factory output declined by 3.19 per cent in November, due mainly to a (-)4.4 per cent drop in manufacturing activity.
The cumulative growth of the country’s factory output was also pulled down to 3.9 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year from 4.8 per cent for the first seven months.
Between the other broader indices, electricity production was up marginally by 0.7 per cent, while that for mining was at 2.3 per cent.
The cumulative growth of the two indices for the first eight months of the current fiscal were 4.6 per cent and 2.1 per cent. Manufacturing’s cumulative growth stood at 3.9 per cent.
In the case of prices, as pulses continued to remain dear, the country’s annual retail inflation moved up further to 5.61 per cent in December from 5.41 per cent during the month before, the official data showed.
According to the numbers on the consumer price index, the annual rate of inflation, December-on-December, was distinctly higher in rural areas at 6.32 per cent against 4.73 per cent in the cities and towns.
The retail food inflation during the month under review was 6.4 per cent for India as a whole, as against 6.07 per cent in the month before. In the rural and urban areas, the annual inflation rates for food items were 6.41 per cent and 6.31 per cent, respectively.
The official data further showed that prices of pulses were up 45.92 per cent over those prevailing during the past year.