India’s factory production fell for a fourth straight month in June, mostly attributed to weakness across most segments excluding consumer non-durable goods. During that month, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) fell 16.6% from the same month last year. However, the decline in June is not as steep as the 34% contraction in May.
The slowdown in the decline of India’s industrial output is seen by some analysts as signs of weak improvement in the sector hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown measures. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Tuesday said that for June 2020, the index for electricity fell 10% to 156.2, manufacturing contracted by 17.1% to 106.9, and mining dropped 19.8% to 85.4.
For the April-June quarter, the IIP dropped by 35.9% to an all-time low. India’s industrial output saw a contraction of 55.5% in April, the sharpest since 1996, as a result of the country’s nationwide lockdown which curbed domestic factory activity.
