<div>After feeble signs of a recovery, industrial production once again slipped into negative territory and contracted 1.9 per cent in February due to poor performance in manufacturing, especially capital goods.</div><div> </div><div>Factory output as measured by the index of industrial production (IIP) showed a decline of 0.1 per cent during the 11-month period from April to February, compared with growth of 0.9 per cent in the corresponding period a year earlier.</div><div> </div><div>Industrial output for January was revised upward to growth of 0.8 per cent from a provisional estimate of 0.1 per cent, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). In February 2013, the IIP recorded modest growth of 0.6 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>Factory output started to decline in October, when the IIP contracted 1.2 per cent, and continued till December, as per CSO data released today.</div><div> </div><div>Manufacturing, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, declined 3.7 per cent in February as against growth of 2.1 per cent in the same month a year ago.</div><div> </div><div>During April-February, the sector's output contracted 0.7 per cent compared with 1 per cent growth previously.</div><div> </div><div>Production of capital goods, a barometer of demand, shrank 17.4 per cent, in sharp contrast to an expansion of 9.1 per cent in the same month in 2012.</div><div> </div><div>The segment declined 2.5 per cent in April-February over a contraction of 7.7 per cent in the comparable period.</div><div> </div><div>Overall, 13 of the 22 industry groups in manufacturing showed negative growth in February as compared to the corresponding month of 2012. </div><div><br />(PTI)<br /><br /> </div>
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