India's industrial production increased much faster-than-expected in April and consumer price inflation slowed more-than-expected in May, boosting hopes of better prospects for the economy after the new government took charge late last month.
Industrial production rose 3.4 percent year-on-year in April, data from the Central Statistics Office showed on Thursday, exceeding economists' expectations for a 1.9 percent gain. In March, output grew a provisional 0.5 percent.
Manufacturing output grew 2.6 percent, while mining production increased 1.2 percent. Electricity output rose 11.9 percent.
A separate release from the agency showed that consumer price inflation eased to 8.28 percent in May from 8.59 percent in April. Economists had forecast an inflation figure of 8.40 percent.
"Today's figures on Indian industry were the most positive in many months," Capital Economics Chief Asia Economist Mark Williams said.
"These data are volatile though and don't yet provide convincing evidence that the sector has finally turned a corner."
Further, Williams said policymakers are unlikely to loosen policy just yet, despite headline inflation skimming the Reserve Bank's January 2015 inflation target of 8 percent for the past four months.
In June, the central bank, led by Governor Raghuram Rajan, left the key policy rate unchanged for a second straight month on expectations of slowdown in inflation and the currency gaining strength.
Figures from the Commerce Ministry yesterday showed that exports grew a robust 12.4 percent annually in May. The latest purchasing managers' survey from Markit Economics showed that the factory sector continued expansion in May.
The positive readings for the economy comes ahead of the presentation of the budget by the new Finance Minister Arun Jaitley next month.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.