India's industrial production increased at a significantly faster pace in March, and the rate of growth exceeded expectations, latest government data showed Friday.
Industrial production increased 2.5 percent on an annual basis in March, notably faster than the revised 0.5 percent gain seen in February, the Central Statistics Office said. Economists had forecast the growth rate to accelerate to 2.4 percent the previous month's originally reported 0.6 percent.
Output in the manufacturing sector climbed 3.2 percent annually, and electricity production rose 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, output in the mining sector dropped by 2.9 percent.
Among industrial sub-sector, basic goods production rose 2.6 percent from a year earlier, and capital goods output advanced 6.9 percent. There was a 6.5 percent gain in production of consumer non-durables. Meanwhile, Production of durable consumer goods and intermediate good dropped by 4.5 percent and 0.2 percent respectively from March 2012.
In the April-March period, overall industrial production advanced 1 percent from the corresponding period a year earlier, data showed.
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