<div>Showing no signs of recovery, industrial production growth rate remained negative for the third month in a row, contracting 0.6 per cent in December 2013, mainly due to sluggishness in manufacturing sector.<br /><br />The manufacturing sector, which constitutes about 76 per cent of industrial production, contracted 1.6 per cent from a year earlier.<br /><br />During December 2012 as well, the factory output, as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had contracted by 0.6 per cent.<br /><br />Meanwhile, contraction in IIP during November 2013 has been revised to 1.3 per cent, from the provisional estimate of 2.1 per cent dip.<br /><br />The decline in factory output, which began in October with IIP contracting by 1.6 per cent, continued in December, as per the government data released today.<br /><br />Industrial output for the April-December period of this fiscal, has thus contracted by 0.1 per cent, compared to growth of 0.7 per cent in the same period of 2012-13.<br /><br />The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, declined by 1.6 per cent in December, as against a contraction of 0.8 per cent in the year-ago period.<br /><br />During April-December, the sector's output contracted 0.6 per cent compared to a growth of 0.6 per cent in same period in 2012.<br /><br />Overall, the consumer goods output declined by 5.3 per cent in December, compared to a contraction of 3.6 per cent in the same month in 2012.<br /><br />During April-December, 2013-14, the consumer goods output contracted by 3 per cent, compared to 2.7 per cent growth in the corresponding period in 2012-13.<br /><br />The consumer durables segment contracted by 16.2 per cent in December as against a decline of 8.1 per cent in the same month in 2012.<br /><br />For the April-December period, the segment declined by 12.9 per cent compared to a growth of 3.7 per cent in same period in 2012.<br /><br />Overall, 8 out of 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth in December. <br /><br />The growth in consumer non-durables sector was 1.6 per cent in December as against a contraction of 0.5 per cent in the same month in 2012.<br /><br />During the April-December period, the segment's growth was 5.7 per cent, compared to 1.8 per cent during the nine months of 2012-13 fiscal.<br /><br />The mining sector, with a weight of about 14 per cent in IIP, grew by 0.4 per cent in December as against a dip of 3.1 per cent in the same month in 2012.<br /><br />During April-December, the output shrank by 1.8 per cent as it did in the same period last year.<br /><br />Power generation posted a growth of 7.5 per cent in December last year, compared to 5.2 per cent in the same month of 2012. Expansion in power generation was 5.6 per cent in April-December, as compared to 4.6 per cent a year ago.<br /><br />Capital goods production, a barometer of demand, showed a decline in output by 3 per cent in December 2013 compared to a contraction of 1.1 per cent in the same month a year ago. The segment declined by 0.5 per cent in April-December as against a sharp contraction of 10.1 per cent in the comparable period.<br /><br />Intermediate goods segment expanded at a rate of 4.5 per cent in December, compared to a contraction of 0.2 per cent in same month in 2012. During April-December, the segment grew by 3 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent growth in the nine month period in 2012.<br /><br />The basic goods segment grew by 2.4 per cent in December, compared to 2.2 per cent growth in same month in 2012. During April-December, the segment grew by 1.3 per cent as against 2.6 per cent in the nine month period a year ago.<br /><br />(Agencies)<br /> </div>
