Industrial production growth slows to 3.7% in June from 5.3% the previous month

Industrial production in the country grew 3.7 per cent in June, official data showed on Friday. Industrial production — also known as factory output — had expanded 5.3 per cent in May. Determined by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), factory output is a key macroeconomic indicator that captures activity in a host of industrial segments. 

Factory output in manufacturing — which commands a weightage of 77.6 per cent in the index — expanded 3.1 per cent, a slowdown from 5.8 per cent the previous month, the data from the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation showed.

In mining and electricity, industrial production increased 7.6 per cent and 4.2 per cent, as against 6. per cent and 0.9 per cent in May respectively.

The mining sector has a weightage of 14.4 per cent in IIP and electricity carries the remaining eight per cent.  

The IIP reading comes a day after the Reserve Bank of India held the repo rate — or the key interest rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks — steady for a third back-to-back bi-monthly review, as widely expected by economists.

The industry production data comes ahead of a key GDP reading, for the April-June period, due at the end of the month.  

(This story will be updated shortly)