IIP growth surges to 8% in August

IIP surges 8% in August, nearly doubles year-ago growth on manufacturing, power boost

NEW DELHI: Industrial production rose 8% in Aug as against 4.7% expansion recorded a year ago, on account of robust growth in manufacturing and electricity sectors.Sequentially also, industrial production witnessed acceleration from an upward revised figure of 7.4% in July, latest data released Monday showed. For the first five months of 2026-27, the index of industrial production grew 6.7%, compared with 4.2% a year ago.Manufacturing , which has a weight of 76% in the index, grew 9% as 18 out of 23 industry groups witnessed an increase in output, led by motor vehicles, transport equipment, electricals, machinery equipment, computers, rubber and plastics.Electricity and gas supply expanded 12.3% on account of higher temperature due to heat wave conditions. Electricity production from both conventional and renewable sources recorded double-digit growth in Aug. The newly added water supply, sewerage and waste management sector grew 6.3%. Activity in the mining and quarrying contracted -5.6% during the month.In the use-based category — capital goods (16.9%), intermediate goods (13.7%) and infra goods (12%) industries registered double-digit output, reflecting the impact of sustained public capex in the economy. Consumer durables, too, recorded 11.1% growth during the month.Bank of Baroda chief economist Madan Sabnavis said revival in industrial growth is a positive sign as this has been witnessed in the last few months. “Growth in credit to industry has also been very high and broad-based, supporting the hypothesis of the sector recovering quite rapidly this year to contribute positively to overall growth,” he added. ICRA Ratings chief economist Rahul Agrawal said IIP growth in July-Aug has averaged 7.7%, up from 6.2% in April-June quarter, which should partly offset the likely impact of margin pressure stemming from the renewed surge in global commodity prices, on the July-Sept growth.