NEW DELHI: India's industrial activity accelerated in October with a rise of over 3.5 per cent in factory output on a year-on-year basis, official data showed on Thursday.
India's industrial production rose the most in eight months in October as the manufacturing sector also expanded for the first time since February. Industrial growth in October came in at 3.6%, up from 0.5% in September, data released today by the National Statistical Office showed.
This is well above the consensus estimate. According to the median of a Cogencis poll, industrial output was seen rising 1.4% in October. Industrial production had contracted 6.6% in October 2019. Manufacturing output, which has a weight of 77.6%inthe IIP, increased 3.5% year-onyear in October.
The last time manufacturing output had risen on a year-on-year basis was in February, when it had risen 3.8%. Since then, manufacturing output has only declined, averaging a monthly fall of 23.4% during Mar-Sep as the coronavirus-induced lockdowns severely hit activity.
Electricity production also posted impressive gains, rising 11.2%-- also the most since February. However, mining output declined 1.5% after rising in September. Five of the six categories recorded a growth in October.
