IIP in positive zone after 6 months

New Delhi: Industrial production entered positive territory after a gap of six months, mainly due to higher output in mining and power sectors, official data showed on Thursday. The industrial output grew by 0.2 per cent in September, according to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data. The manufacturing sector - which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the index - recorded a marginal contraction of 0.6 per cent in September.

The output of mining and power segments grew at 1.4 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively. The IIP had contracted by 4.6 per cent in September 2019. The industrial production had witnessed a 5.2 per cent growth in February this year. Thereafter it recorded a contraction of 18.7 per cent in March, (-) 57.3 per cent in April, (-) 33.4 in May, (-) 16.6 in June and (-) 10.8 in July this year. Meanwhile, the contraction in IIP for August has been revised to (-) 7.4 per cent from the (-) 8 per cent provisional data released last month.

The government had imposed a lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 infections on March 25 this year. With the gradual relaxation of restrictions, there has been a relative improvement in the economic activities by varying degrees as well as in data reporting, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said in a statement.