Industrial production up by 11.1 pc in December 2006

New Delhi, Feb 12 (UNI) Industrial production grew by 11.1 per cent in December 2006 over the same month in 2005 on the back of all-round positive growth, though slower than the 15.4 per cent growth charted in November 2006.

According to the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for December 2006 released by the Central Statistical Organisation, the General Index stood at 258.3, largely due to the performance of the industry groups ''Wood and Wood Products; Furniture and Fixtures'', ''Basic Metal and Alloy Industries'' and ''Metal Products and Parts, except Machinery and Equipment.'' The indices for the manufacturing sector, which has a weight of 15 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, was up at 275.7, recording growth of 11.9 per cent.

Among the sectoral growth rates in December 2006 over December 2005, capital goods rose by 20.2 per cent, basic goods by 11.7 per cent and intermediate goods by 11.2 per cent. Consumer non-durables jumped by 8.7 per cent and Consumer durables stood at 3.3 per cent, with the overall growth in consumer goods being 7.4 per cent.

While all the 17 industry groups (as per 2-digit NIC-1987) in the manufacturing sector showed positive growth during December 2006 against the corresponding month of the previous year, the industry group ''Wood and Wood Products; Furniture and Fixtures'' performed well with the highest growth of 29.3 per cent, followed by ''Basic Metal and Alloy Industries'' with 28.9 per cent and ''Metal Products and Parts, except Machinery and Equipment'' with 24.0 per cent.

The cumulative growth for April-December 2006 was put at 10.8 per cent over the corresponding period of the pervious year.

The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month were 171.4, 275.7, and 211.8 respectively, registering growth rates of 3.8 per cent, 11.9 per cent and 9.3 per cent compared to December 2005.

The cumulative growth during April-December 2006-07 over the corresponding period of 2005-06 in the three sectors have been 3.9 per cent, 11.8 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively, impacting the overall growth in the General Index to 10.8 per cent.

In the light of the updated data received from the source agencies, indices for November 2006 have undergone the first revision and those for September 2006 have undergone the second and final revision. There are no significant revisions in the indices for September 2006 and November 2006.

UNI