Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI : The country’s industrial output growth accelerated in Feb, led by a recovery in the manufacturing sector, but the West Asia conflict is expected to weigh heavily on the crucial sector in the months ahead.Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday showed the index of industrial production rose 5.2 per cent in Feb, a tad higher than the upwardly revised 5.1% in Jan. The manufacturing sector rose 6 per cent in Feb, higher than 2.8 per cent in Feb last year and above the 5.3 per cent in Jan.Within the manufacturing sector, 14 out of 23 industry groups grew in Feb compared to the same month a year earlier. The top three positive contributors in Feb were — manufacture of basic metals (13.2 per cent), manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semitrailers (14.9 per cent) and manufacture of machinery and equipment (10.2 per cent), according to the statistics office. The electricity and mining sectors remained sluggish, rising 2.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.Experts expect the West Asia conflict to hurt factory sector expansion. Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA, said the agency expects IIP growth to decelerate to 3 per cent-4 per cent in March, amid the unfolding adverse impact of the West Asia crisis on some manufacturing segments, both through the price and availability channels, and weaker electricity performance in the month.
