Industry grows at over 15% in Feb

NEW DELHI: Industrial growth maintained the high growth rate of over 15% for the third month in a row in February. Industrial growth, as measured by the index of industrial production (IIP), however, was slightly lower than around 16% of the previous month and 17.6% in December. The high growth is largely due to a strong 16% growth in manufacturing and a low base of 0.2% a year ago, when the Indian economy was still reeling under the impact of the global financial crisis. Consumer durable, which was particularly hit by the global crisis, expanded 29.9% in February while capital goods production rose 44.4%. Among other sectors, mining rose 12.2% and electricity by 6.7%. For the first 11 months of the last fiscal, industrial output rose by 10.1% against 3% a year ago. As many as 14 out of the 17 industrial groups showed positive growth in February. This would help the Indian economy to grow by at least 7.2% as estimated by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).