Industrial growth rate declines further

The 4.5 per cent growth in industrial production in May has mainly come about with a 9.1 per cent growth in the electricity sector.

However, on a point-to-point comparison the industrial production in the current fiscal stood at five per cent compared to 2.7 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

The capital goods sector witnessed the most drastic fall in growth during May at 0.6 per cent. In comparison, the sector grew at 20.1 per cent inthe first month of the fiscal. The mining sector continued its decline by also recording a negative growth of 0.2 per cent. The sector had recorded a negative growth of 3.1 per cent in April.

Among the use-based groups, intermediate goods recorded the highest growth at 7.8 per cent in May compared to the corresponding period last year. The basic goods sector grew at 3.6 per cent during the month. Basic goods and intermediate goods were the only two groups which recorded a higher growth than in April. Growth in consumer goods was at 3.1 per cent during May over the same period last year. The group had witnessed a negative growth of five per cent in May last year.