IIP nosedives to 1.6 pc in December, 2010

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) Industrial growth slowed evenfurther to a dismal 1.6 per cent in December, 2010, from 18per cent in the same period a year ago due to the poorperformance of the manufacturing sector.

In November, 2010, the Index of Industrial Production(IIP) had expanded by a meagre 2.7 per cent.

Industrial growth during April-December this fiscal stoodat 8.6 per cent, unchanged in comparison to the correspondingperiod of the previous year, official data released here todayshowed.

In December, 2010, manufacturing growth plummeted to 1per cent from 19.6 per cent a year ago.

Consumer non-durables production declined by 1.1 per centduring the month under review, in sharp contrast to 3 per centgrowth in the same period a year ago.

The capital goods sector also contracted by 13.7 per centin December, 2010. The sector had expanded by 42.9 per cent inthe corresponding period of the previous year.

Besides manufacturing, mining growth also fell to 3.8 percent in the month under review from 11.1 per cent in the sameperiod of the previous year. However, electricity generationexpanded by 6 per cent in December, 2010, compared to 5.4 percent in December, 2009.

In terms of industries, 12 out of 17 industry groupsachieved positive growth in the last month of 2010.