Pranab terms IIP figures disappointing

Expressing unhappiness over the contraction in industrial output numbers, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said slowdown in global demand and investment activity has impacted IIP.

"The IIP figures are disappointing... Continued weak global business sentiments are also adversely impacting recovery in domestic private investment," Mukherjee told reporters here.

Factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), contracted in March to a five-year low of 3.5 percent. The IIP growth was higher at 9.4 percent in March last year.

"Domestic investment recovery remains frail... Though RBI's monetary stance has been reversed in last policy announcement, it will take some more time for interest costs to come down," Mukherjee said.

On an annual basis, the IIP grew by a meagre 2.8 percent, as against 8.2 percent in the 2010-11 fiscal.

Saying that the revival of manufacturing output in the January-March quarter was not on expected lines, Mukherjee said part of the dip in March IIP numbers is due to base factor.

Expressing "deep concern" over the IIP numbers, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said that he would be meeting the exporters this month to analyse the impact of slowdown in global demand.

As per the official data, output of the manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 percent of the index, contracted by 4.4 percent in March, compared to growth of 11 per cent in March 2011.

Output in the capital goods sector contracted by 21.3 percent as against a growth of 14.5 percent in the same month last year. Mining output too fell by 1.3 percent in March, from a growth of 0.4 percent in the same month a year ago.