By Shubham Batra
NEW DELHI, – India’s industrial output stood at 4.9% in April, government data showed on Monday, as surging energy costs and supply disruptions from the months-long Iran war weighed on parts of Asia’s third-largest economy.
The data was the first under a revised series with 2022-23 as the base year. As a result, the latest print cannot be compared with the 4.1% growth in March.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected industrial output to grow by 3.9%.
The April reading is the second since the Iran war broke out at the end of February, sparking energy shortages in the world’s third‑largest crude importer and consumer.
Manufacturing, which accounts for about 13% of the Indian economy and has been among the sectors hardest hit by the Middle East crisis, grew 6.2% in April.
Capital goods production, a proxy for factory output, rose 16% year-on-year in April.
Output of consumer durables, such as cars and mobile phones, grew 4.3% year-on-year in April, while output of consumer non-durables, such as food items and toiletries, rose 2.8% from a year earlier.
Electricity generation rose 4.9% year-on-year in April, while mining activity decreased 5.1% year-on-year during the month.
KEY CHANGES UNDER NEW SERIES
The statistics ministry has used a so-called chain-linked approach, which will allow it to update weights of different index components annually to capture changes in the economy and reduce distortions.
Under the new data series, electricity generation has been split into renewable and non-renewable to reflect India’s energy transition. Minor minerals and rare earths have been added to the index to reflect their growing role in infrastructure, clean energy and high-technology manufacturing.
Gas distribution, water supply, sewerage and waste management activities have also been included, bringing India’s industrial statistics closer to global standards.
Other changes to the index include a framework for replacing closed or outdated factories with newer production units and a list of miscellaneous items for emerging products and specialised industries.
(Reporting by Shubham Batra in New Delhi; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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