March IIP at -2.3% vs -0.7% in Feb

Industrial production numbers for March have come in at -2.3% as against -0.7% in February. FY09 IIP has come in at 2.4% as compared to 8.5% in FY08. IIP for February has been revised to -0.7% versus -1.2% earlier. A CNBC-TV18 poll of 10-12 economists saw production contract by 0.25% for March.

There were expectations that it might end up flat or marginally positive. Infrastructure numbers, which comprises about 26% of IIP, had showed a growth of 2.9% in March versus only 2.2% in February. Cement, steel, and automobiles also posted fairly decent numbers in that period. Hence, the expectation was that even if it comes in the negative, it would be marginally.

IIP internals for March:

- Capital goods output down 8.2%

- Manufacturing output down 3.3%

- Mining output up 0.4%

- Electricity output up 6.3%

- Consumer goods output down 0.8%

- Consumer durable goods up 8.3%

- Consumer non-durable goods down 3.6%