Finance Ministry releases IIP data

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry yesterday said that the release of quick estimates of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for September 2021 shows a sustained increase in industrial production. The IIP, in FY 2021-22, has grown from an average of 121.3 in Q1 to 130.2 in Q2.

The IIP in Q2 would have been still higher but for heavy monsoons disrupting mining activity, especially coal and consequently electricity generation, that repressed the growth of the overall production index. Further, the ministry data highlighted that the manufacturing index in IIP has held steady and is likely to rise in subsequent months mirroring the eight-month high in Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for manufacturing reaching 55.9 in October 2021.

A sharp increase in the capital goods index from an average of 74.0 in Q1 of FY 2021-22 to 91.7 in Q2 underscores a significant recovery in investment.

The



release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers for the month of October 2021 shows that the decline in annual consumer price inflation has now gradually set in FY 2021-22. The annual CPI inflation has declined from 5.6 percent in Q1 to 5.1 percent in Q2 and it is lower still at 4.5 percent in October of FY 2021-22.

Similarly, Consumer Food Price Inflation (CFPI) has declined from 4.0 percent in Q1 of FY 2021-22 to 2.6 percent in Q2 and further to 0.8 percent in October showing that supply-side disruptions to food distribution have considerably eased.

Exports are visibly emerging as the engine of growth for India’s economy having crossed 30 billion US dollars for the seventh successive month in October of FY 2021-22. On a cumulative basis, India’s merchandise exports in April-October stood at 232.58 billion US dollar, up 54.5 percent over the same period in 2019.