India’s industrial production declined by 16.6 percent in June, on account of disruption in normal business activity following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, the government data showed on Tuesday.
The decline in factory output was widespread across the sectors, including manufacturing, mining, power generation, capital goods and consumer durables, as per the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had expanded by 1.3 percent in June 2019.
The only saving grace was the steady rise in the IIP, which surged from 53.6 in April, to 89.5 in May and 107.8 in June.
According to the data, manufacturing sector production reported a decline of 17.1 percent, while the output of mining and power fell 19.8 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
The IIP data, according to the government press release, cannot be compared with the pre-pandemic period.
“It may not be appropriate to compare the IIP in the post-pandemic months with the IIP for months preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the disclaimer in the release.
The index during the first quarter of the current fiscal (April-June) declined by 35.9 percent, with all sectors showing negative growth on account of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns to prevent the spread of the disease. This compares with an expansion of 3 percent in the year-ago period.
As per the use-based classification, the output of the capital goods declined by 36.9 percent and consumer durables by 35.5 percent. Some silver lining was witnessed in the consumer non-durables sector, which registered a positive growth of 14 percent in June.
On a quarterly basis (April-June), the output of capital goods, consumer durables and consumer non-durables fell by 64.3 percent, 67.6 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively.
In view of the preventive measures and announcement of a nationwide lockdown by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of industrial sector establishments were not operating from March-end, 2020 onwards.
This has had an impact on the items being produced by the establishments during the period of lockdown. With the lifting of restrictions in the subsequent periods, industrial activity is now resuming.