New Delhi: With good performance in key sectors, mostly in mining and power, India's industrial production grew 5.9 per cent in May this year, while India’s consumer inflation in June 2024 stood at 5.08 per cent against 4.8 per cent in May. However, the June inflation is the highest in four months, two government data showed on Friday.
As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the factory output measured in terms of the index of industrial production or IIP witnessed 5.9 per cent in May 2024 against a growth of 5.7 per cent in May last year. “During April-May this fiscal, the IIP grew 5.4 per cent as compared to 5.1 per cent in the year-ago period,” the NSO data showed.
Beating the estimates, India's industrial output grew substantially in some of the sectors year-on-year (YoY) basis in May, while the consensus estimates were at 4.9 per cent for the said month. “The mining production rose to 6.6 per cent and power output up by 13.7 per cent, while the manufacturing output slowed to 4.6 per cent in May 2024 against 6.3 per cent in the year-ago period,” the data showed.
According to the use-based classification, in May 2023 the capital goods segment grew by 2.5 per cent in the said month this year, but it expanded by 8.1 per cent in the same month of last year. “The output of consumer durables surged by 12.3 per cent during May compared to a marginal growth of 1.5 per cent in 2023,” the data showed.
“The output of non-durable consumer goods grew by 2.3 per cent after rising by 8.9 per cent in May 2023. but goods related to infrastructure and construction saw a marginal growth of 6.9 per cent in May, against a 13.0 percent expansion YoY,” it showed.
Meanwhile, the NSO data further showed that India’s retail inflation rose to a 4-month high of 5.08 percent in June compared with 4.75 percent in the previous month as food inflation galloped to 9.4 percent. “Inflation had dipped to a 12-month low of 4.75 percent in the previous month, despite food inflation hovering around 8.7 percent,” it showed.
The data also showed that the consumer price index or CPI-based retail inflation was 4.8 per cent in May 2024 and 4.87 per cent in June 2023 (previous low). “Inflation in the food basket was 9.36 per cent in June, up from 8.69 per cent in May,” the data showed.
The government has tasked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure that the CPI inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. The RBI projected the CPI inflation for 2024-25 at 4.5 per cent, with Q1 at 4.9 per cent, Q2 at 3.8 per cent, Q3 at 4.6 per cent, and Q4 at 4.5 per cent.
