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New Delhi: India's industrial production slipped to an 18-month low, contracting by 0.8 per cent in August, mainly due to a decline in output of the manufacturing and mining sectors, according to official data released on Wednesday. The data showed that the previous low in industrial output growth was a contraction of 3.2 per cent in February 2021.
Factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had expanded by 13 per cent in August 2021. The IIP grew by 2.2 per cent in July this year.
On the other hand, retail inflation rose to 7.41 per cent in September from 7 per cent in August, mainly due to higher food inflation which went up sharply to 8.6 per cent from 7.6 per cent in August. September's retail inflation of 7.41 per cent was much higher than last September's level of 4.35 per cent. This is the ninth straight month when retail inflation has remained above the RBI's tolerance limit of 2 to 6 per cent.
High prices of cereals, meat, fish and eggs along with those of fruits and vegetables led to the spike in retail inflation.
The manufacturing sector shrank by 0.7 per cent in August 2022 compared to the 11.1 per cent growth recorded in the year-ago period, as per the data released by the Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry. The power sector showed a growth of 1.4 per cent against a 16 per cent rise a year ago.
