New Delhi, May 12 (Mayank Nigam) India’s factory output measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew marginally at 1.9% in March, 2022 as manufacturing growth remained subdued during the month. The IIP had grown at 1.7% in February. On lower base, industrial production had surged 24.2% in March, 2021. As per data released by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Thursday, manufacturing sector grew at 0.9% in March, mining and electricity production expanded at 4% and 6.1%, respectively in March. “The sooner the geopolitical tension on account of war and trade sanctions ease, better it will get for global economic growth and price stability,” said Vivek Rathi, Director (Research), Knight Frank India.
The data for use-based categories showed contraction in consumer durables and consumer non-durables in the month of March. Primary goods production grew 5.7% year-on-year in March. Capital goods and intermediate goods grew at a meager 0.7% and 0.6% respectively last month. Infrastructure/construction goods rose 7.3% year-on-year in March. “The trend in the use-based categories remained mixed, with a sequential improvement in the performance of primary and consumer goods being largely offset by a dip in the expansion of capital, infra and intermediate goods,” ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said. She further said that the bleak three-month low 0.7% growth in capital goods output in March 2022 doesn’t bode well for a pickup in investment activity in Q4 FY2022. “The outlook for the April 2022 IIP growth is quite benign, given the low base related to the second wave of Covid-19 in India in April 2021. With a high YoY expansion in coal, electricity, coal and non-oil exports, amidst a flattish performance of the auto sector, we expect the IIP to report a double-digit expansion in April 2022,” Nayar said.