The country's factory output, which is measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) witnessed a contraction of 0.3 per cent on-year to 133.5 during the month of December 2019, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The IIP had grown by 2.5 per cent in December 2018.
The industrial growth during the period of April-December 2019 was 0.5 per cent from the corresponding period year ago. The industrial growth was 4.7 per cent during the same period last year, the data showed.
As per the data, the manufacturing sector output declined by 1.2 per cent on-year, while the electricity generation slipped by 0.1 per cent. Mining sector output grew by 5.4 per cent to 120.6.
Retail inflation (CPI) spikes 7.59 per cent
The retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 7.59 per cent in January 2020 due to costlier food items, according to a separate data released by MoSPI.
The CPI was 7.35 per cent in December 2019 and 1.97 per cent in January last year.
The food inflation last month was 13.63 per cent, compared with (-)2.24 per cent in January 2019. However, it is down from 14.19 per cent in December.
The Reserve Bank of India had kept the key policy rate unchanged earlier this month mainly due to high inflation.
(Inputs and image from theindianexpress)