New Delhi, Oct 28 Industrial production growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in September compared to the previous month, mainly due to contraction in mining activity and sluggishness in manufacturing, government data released on Wednesday showed.
In August, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) expanded 7.8 per cent, and the reading was 8 per cent on the basis of a quick estimate by the National Statistics Office (NSO).
The IIP growth for September 2026 is 6.7 per cent, which was 8 per cent (quick estimate) in August 2026, NSO said in a release on quick estimates for September.
NSO said indices for August have incorporated revised production data.
Calculations are based on new series that came into effect from April with the base year of 2022-23.
“In September 2026, the IIP recorded a 6.7 per cent year-on-year growth, supported by 7.6 per cent growth in the manufacturing sector and strong growth of 11.2 per cent in the electricity and gas supply sector,” an official release said.
In the first half of the fiscal year, IIP growth stood at 6.8 per cent, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said in the release.
The expansion in the manufacturing sector, which has nearly 76 per cent weight in the index, was 8.6 per cent in August.
The contraction in the ‘mining and quarrying’ sector was (-) 6.2 per cent in September. The decline was (-) 4.6 per cent in August.
The growth in ‘electricity and gas supply’ and ‘water supply, sewerage and waste management’ was sluggish in September compared to the preceding month.
Within the manufacturing sector, 17 out of 23 industry groups recorded positive growth in September. The top three positive contributors were ‘manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’, ‘manufacture of electrical equipment’, and ‘manufacture of rubber and plastics products’, NSO said.
According to use-based classification, growth was 4 per cent in primary goods, 10.4 per cent in capital goods, 12.2 per cent in intermediate goods, 7.2 per cent in infrastructure/ construction goods, 6 per cent in consumer durables and 1.4 per cent in consumer non-durables.
The top three positive contributors to the growth of the industrial production index in September were intermediate goods, primary goods and capital goods.
Commenting on the IIP data, Ranen Banerjee, Partner and Leader, Economic Advisory, PwC India said the contraction in the mining and quarrying and moderation in consumer durables and capital goods output are major contributors to the slower growth.
“The higher output in the previous month of August in anticipation of festive sales and anticipation of progressive wearing off of the GST rationalisation-related consumption uplift and consequent high base of previous year could be major factors impacting the print,” he said.
Nervousness about rising inflation impacting demand could also have influenced production planning, Banerjee added.
Dipti Deshpande, Senior Director and Principal Economist at Crisil, opined industrial production remained robust in September, with the IIP growing at 6.7 per cent.
“While growth eased from August’s 7.8 per cent, the moderation was largely due to a statistical high-base effect, along with some sequential softening in mining and electricity output,” she said.
Devendra Pant, Chief Economist, India Ratings and Research, said the base effect and negative growth of the mining sector pulled down September 2026 IIP growth to 6.7 per cent.
“Ind-Ra is of the view that IIP growth could improve in October 2026 in the range of 8-9 per cent due to the base effect in the overall index and especially for the manufacturing and electricity sector,” Pant added.
(PTI News)
