Industrial production registers 4.3pc growth in August 2017

New Delhi, Oct 12: The Industrial Production for the month of August 2017 rose to a nine-month high of 4 point 3 per cent after the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was introduced on July 1, 2017. As per the data released by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, the General Index stands at 121.5, which is 4.3 percent higher as compared to the level in the month of August 2016. The cumulative growth for the period April-August 2017 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 2.2 percent. It had registered a 48-month low in June, 2017and had managed to rise by 0.9 per cent year on year in July, 2017. According to the data release, the Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of August 2017 stand at 92.7, 123.3 and 155.4 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of 9.4 percent, 3.1 percent and 8.3 percent as compared to August 2016. The cumulative growth in these three sectors during April-August 2017 over the corresponding period of 2016 has been 3.3 percent, 1.6 percent and 6.2 percent respectively. In terms of industries, ten out of the twenty three industry groups (as per 2-digit NIC-2008) in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during the month of August 2017 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. The industry group ‘Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products’ has shown the highest positive growth of 24.9 percent followed by 16.5 percent in ‘Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products’ and 11.1 percent in ‘Manufacture of other transport equipment’. On the other hand, the industry group ‘Manufacture of furniture’ has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 16.0 percent followed by (-) 15.1 percent in ‘Manufacture of tobacco products’ and (-) 11.4 percent in ‘Printing and reproduction of recorded media’. As per Use-based classification, the growth rates in August 2017 over August 2016 are 7.1 percent in Primary goods, 5.4 percent in Capital goods, (-) 0.2 percent in Intermediate goods and 2.5 percent in Infrastructure/ Construction Goods (Statement III). The Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables have recorded growth of 1.6 percent and 6.9 percent respectively. UNI