Industrial growth slows to 2.7% in April as manufacturing stays resilient, mining dips

This marked a deceleration from the 3.94% growth recorded in March and remained below the pace seen in April 2024.

The IIP reading for April stood at 152.0, compared with 148.0 a year earlier. Sector-wise, manufacturing – the heaviest component of the index – posted a 3.4% rise, improving from 3.0% in March.

Electricity generation inched up by 1.1%, while mining activity contracted slightly by 0.2%.

Within manufacturing, 16 out of 23 industry groups reported positive growth. The strongest gain came from the “manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.”, which surged 17.0%.

This was followed by a 15.4% increase in the output of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, and a 4.9% rise in basic metals.

In the basic metals category, the uptick was led by higher production of pipes and tubes of steel, MS blooms, billets, ingots, and alloy steel flat products.

For motor vehicles and trailers, items such as auto components, axles, and commercial vehicles drove growth.

The machinery and equipment segment saw gains from products like machine tools, lathes, and non-automotive internal combustion engines.

Among use-based categories, infrastructure and construction goods climbed 4.0% in April. Capital goods grew sharply by 20.3%, while intermediate goods rose by 4.1%. Consumer durables registered a 6.4% increase, but consumer non-durables contracted by 1.7%. Primary goods saw a slight decline of 0.4%.

The index levels under use-based classification stood at:

Primary goods: 151.6
Capital goods: 114.3
Intermediate goods: 164.2
Infrastructure/construction goods: 191.6
Consumer durables: 127.2
Consumer non-durables: 148.4

Data revision and methodology

The release of April’s Quick Estimates was accompanied by a final revision of March 2025’s IIP figures. The revision showed a notable improvement, with the weighted response rate increasing to 93% from the 88% reported in the initial estimates.

The April 2025 Quick Estimate was prepared with an 88% weighted response rate. Sector-specific data based on 2-digit NIC-2008 classification and use-based categories are included in Statements I, II, and III. Statement IV offers a month-wise index trend for the past 13 months, providing a broader view of sectoral performance over time.