Manufacturing sector powers India's industrial growth: Survey

New Delhi, Feb 27 (UNI) India's impressive industrial sector growth during this fiscal has been largely driven by its manufacturing sector as also a modest turnaround in the growth rates of the mining and electricity sectors over the previous year, says the Economic Survey 2006-07.

At 10.6 per cent, the year-on-year industrial growth in the first nine months of this fiscal was the highest recorded since 1995-96.

The Manufacturing sector accounted for 91.1 per cent of this improved performance, says the Survey presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in Parliament today.

Between April and November 2006-07, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which measures absolute level and percentage growth of industrial production as well as its three sub sectors of mining, electricity and manufacturing was higher than that in the comparable period of last year.

It notes that on a year-on-year basis, during April to November 2006, while growth accelerated in basic and intermediate goods sectors between 2005 and 2006, deceleration of growth occurred in consumer goods industries.

Encouragingly, year-on-year growth for capital goods has been in double digit and higher than overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth every month since February 2004.

Eleven sub-sectors recorded an improvement in performance over the comparable period of the previous year, though the performance in six other groups including food products, jute and other vegetable fibre textiles, wood and wood products, leather and leather and fur products deteriorated.

Lacklustre growth in these industries, which are more labour-intensive, is seen in the slow growth of jobs in manufacturing.

UNI