(Representative image)
NEW DELHI: Industrial production It contracted 10.4 percent in July, mainly due to lower output from the manufacturing, mining and power generation sectors, official data showed on Friday.
Explaining the reasons for the fall in the Industrial Production Index (PII), the ministry of statistics and the implementation of the program said that a large number of industrial units were not operating since the end of March due to the closure imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19.
“This has had an impact on the items the stores produce during the closure period,” it said in a statement.
In addition, he said that industrial activity is resuming with the lifting of restrictions.
The ministry added that “it may not be appropriate to compare the PII in the months after the pandemic with the PII in the months before the COVID 19 pandemic.”
However, he said that the index for the month of July 2020 stands at 118.1 compared to 108.9 in June, 89.5 in May and 54 in April.
According to the PII data, factory production had registered a growth of 4.9 percent in July 2019.
Meanwhile, the fall in the IIP for June has been revised to (-) 15.77 percent from the provisional estimates of contraction of 16.6 percent published last month.
According to the data, the manufacturing sector, which makes up 77.63 percent of the IIP, registered a decline of 11.1 percent in July compared to a growth of 4.8 percent in the same month last year.
Similarly, mining sector output fell 13 percent in July, down from 4.9 percent growth previously.
Power generation contracted 2.5% compared to growth of 5.2% a year ago.
Production of capital goods, which is a barometer of investment, fell 22.8% in July, compared to a 7% contraction a year ago.
The production of durable consumer goods also decreased by 23.6%, compared to a contraction of 2.4% in July 2019.
Production of non-durable consumer goods grew 6.7 percent, compared with growth of 8.5 percent a year ago.
The PII for the April-July period has contracted 29.2 percent, according to the data. It had registered a growth of 3.5 percent during the same period of the last fiscal year.
.
