Govt to release January 2009 IIP data on 12 March 2009

The government is set to release the industrial production data for the month of January 2009 on Thursday, 12 March 2009. Industrial production had declined for the second time in three months in December 2008, data on 12 February 2009 showed. The index of industrial production (IIP) declined 2% in December 2008 compared to a revised 1.7% gain in November 2008 and a 0.3% decline in October 2008. The 2% drop in industrial production in December 2008 was largely due to a sharp 2.5% year-on-year contraction in manufacturing which has the largest weightage of 80% in IIP. Meanwhile, data released by the government on 6 March 2009 showed a 1.4% growth infrastructure sector output in January 2009 from a year earlier, below an unrevised 2.3% in December 2008. Infrastructure sector output had risen by 3.6% in January 2008, and in the 2007/08 fiscal year it rose 5.6% from a year earlier. The infrastructure sector accounts for 26.68% of the country's industrial output. A latest ABN AMRO Bank purchasing managers' index (PMI) which is based on a survey of 500 companies showed that Indian manufacturing activity shrank for a fourth straight month in February 2009. Yet, the February 2009 index was slightly better than January 2009. The PMI rose to a seasonally adjusted 47 in February 2009, slightly better from January 2009. A reading above 50 signals economic expansion while a figure below 50 suggests contraction. Manufacturing makes up about 16% of India's gross domestic product. The performance of the exports sector was dismal in January 2009. India's exports fell for the fourth month in a row in January 2009. Exports fell an annual 15.9% in January 2009 to $12.38 billion as the global slowdown shaved off demand for Indian goods. As per initial estimates available with the commerce ministry, exports dropped 13.7% in February 2009, registering a decline for the fifth consecutive month. Meanwhile, imports also fell for second consecutive month, by 18.2%. The gross domestic product (GDP) also showed a marked slowdown in India's economy. GDP grew 5.3% in Q3 December 2008. The figure was sharply lower than a 7.6% growth in Q2 September 2008 as the global economic crisis cut demand and exports. India has estimated the economy to grow 7.1% in 2008/09, slowing from a 9% rise in the previous year.