NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s industrial output rose at a faster-than-expected pace of 3.8% year-on-year in December, government data showed on Monday, on the back of a pick up in manufacturing activity.
For December, economists polled by Reuters had estimated growth of 2.4%. In November, too, it rose 2.4%.
Manufacturing output in December rose 3.9% year-on-year, against 3.6% in the same month in the previous year.
“Consumer goods – both durable and non-durable – have registered positive growth rates which are good signs,” Madan Sabnavis, an economist at Bank of Baroda said.
During the month, consumer durables grew 4.8%, while consumer non-durables grew at 2.1%.
Electricity generation in December was up 1.2%, slower than 10.4% growth in the corresponding month a year earlier. Mining activities increased by 5.1%, compared to a 10.1% rise in the same month a year earlier, the data showed.
Industrial output in the first nine months of the fiscal year that started in April was up 6.1% from the same period a year earlier.
Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA, said she anticipates a modest rise in the industrial output growth to 4%-6% in January.
(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti SinghEditing by Bernadette Baum and David Evans)
