The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) showed that the growth of 7.1 percent in December was mainly on account of an uptick in the manufacturing sector which constitutes 77.63 percent of the index. It grew by 8.4 percent in December last year as compared to just 0.6 percent in December 2016.
Based on Consumer price index (CPI) , the inflation was at 5.21 percent in December a 17 month high, and 3.17 percent in January last year.
On another hand, the growth of India’s factory production slowed in December to 7.1 percent from a rise of 8.80 percent in November and a 2.4 percent increase in output during the corresponding period of 2016-17, the report showed.
The index of ‘cereals and products’ saw a minor rise to 135.9, ‘Vegetables’ fell from 161.7 in December to 151.6 in January, and that of ‘Food and Beverages’ segment declined from 140.5 to 139.2.
The index of ‘Pan, tobacco and intoxicants’ deflected from 154.2 to 154.7, ‘Education’ rose from 138.5 to 139.0, and that of ‘Fuel and Light’ remained unchanged at 136.6.
Meanwhile, the general index for the month of December 2017 stood at 130.3, which is 7.1 percent higher as compared to the level in the month of December 2016.
Also, the cumulative growth for the period April-December 2017 over the corresponding period of the previous year was 3.7 percent.
The capital goods, a barometer of investments, showed a sharp increase in output by 16.4 percent in December 2017 as against a decline of 6.2 percent year ago.