20 growth in many sectors

JANUARY 13: The Indian economy continued its upward trend during the April-November 1999 period backed by over 20 per cent growth in sever...

JANUARY 13: The Indian economy continued its upward trend during the April-November 1999 period backed by over 20 per cent growth in several segments in the consumer and non-consumer durable sectors as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the CII-Ascon survey.

Passenger cars 44 per cent, medium and heavy commercial vehicles 68 per cent, personal computers 40 per cent, colour TV 25 per cent, audio products 25 per cent, sugar 53.5 per cent and vanaspati 28 per cent recorded excellent growth of over 20 per cent during the period.

Among the basic goods sectors, steel industry recorded a double digit growth at 11.5 per cent after a long time with cement at 18 per cent. Steel exports also grew by 34 per cent in the period.

As many as 16 of the 86 sectors surveyed reported over 20 per cent growth with 30 sectors recording high growth in between 10 and 20 per cent. Production growth in 34 sectors was below 10 per cent while only seven sectors recorded negativegrowth.

In the over 20 per cent growth segment, growth rates of cars, auto components and the IT sector are higher than that of the last review while growth rates of sugar, vanaspati and colour picture tube are marginally lower, said the survey.

Among the sectors which reported high growth, flat/sheet glass and refractories have shown some increase while the rest of the sectors have more or less maintained the same growth rates as the last survey.

Sectors which recorded moderate growth of below 10 per cent include fertiliser 6.8 per cent, cold-rolled steel 5.5 per cent, automotive tyre seven per cent, newsprint seven per cent, cigarettes and tobacco 0.2 per cent, industrial gases 7.3 per cent, LCVs eight per cent, nylon tyre yarn 4.8 per cent and machine tools one per cent.

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Sectors which recorded excellent growth also include auto components 25 per cent, colour picturetubes 37 per cent, telecom cables 80 per cent, housing finance 27 per cent, software 60 per cent, watches25 per cent and clocks 26 per cent.

Sectors which recorded high growth of 10-20 per cent included steel 11.5 per cent, paper 10 per cent, cement 18 per cent, paints 13 per cent, electronic components 15 per cent, alcoholic beverages 12 per cent, ceramics 14 per cent, telecom equipment 10 per cent, polyester staple fibre 12.2 per cent, industrial furnace 16 per cent, synthetic detergent 17.1 per cent, processed fruit and vegetables 15 per cent.

The survey, based on information provided by member companies of CII and its 87 affiliated associations, account for about 65 per cent of the total industry output.

Nylon filament yarn, scooters, Bamp;W TVs, malted food, tea, hydro-electric and glass table ware were the seven sectors which recorded negative growth during the period.