IIP numbers fall by 0.5 per cent in January

New Delhi: India's industrial production fell 0.5 per cent in January to log a decline for the second month in a row, despite the stimulus packages announced by the government to pump prime the economy in the wake of the global slowdown.

The slide, based on the official data on index of industrial production released by the industry ministry on Thursday, was on account of a 0.8 per cent drop in manufacturing index and a 0.4 per cent fall in the index for mining.

Electricity generation was up 1.8 per cent.

The fresh data places a question mark over India being able to log an overall economic growth of around 7 per cent for the current fiscal as a whole, as industrial production has been able to expand by only 3 per cent during the first 10 months.

The country's industrial production had dropped in October for the first time in 15 years, following which it made a slight recovery next month with an expansion of 1.7 per cent.

But the index fell again in December, leaving India Inc worried.

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