India's industrial growth falls to 3.3 pc in July   

       New Delhi, Sep 12(PTI) India's industrial growth fell to
 a meagre 3.3 per cent in July this year on account of poor
 performance mainly by capital goods, manufacturing and mining
 sectors, reflecting sluggishness in the economy.
        Growth in the factory output, as measured in terms of
 the Index of Industrial Production (LIP), had stood at 9.9 per
 cent in July last year.
        During the April-July period of this fiscal, IIP growth
 stood at 5.8 per cent, as against 9.7 per cent in the
 corresponding four-month period last year.
        Output of the manufacturing sector, which constitutes
 over 75 per cent of the index, grew by only 2.3 per cent in
 July compared to 10.8 per cent expansion in the same month
 last year, according the official data released on Monday.
        Production of capital goods declined by 15.2 per cent in
 July, in comparison to a growth of 40.3 per cent in the same
 month of 2010.
        The growth in mining production was 2.8 per cent in the
 month, down from 8.7 per cent in the same month last year.
        Production of intermediate goods fell by 1.1 per cent
 during the month under review against a growth of 8.5 per
 cent in July 2010.
        Consumer durables grew by 8.6 per cent in July as
 compared to a growth of 14.8 per cent in the corresponding
 month of last year.
        However, electricity production improved witnessing a
 growth of 13.1 per cent in July this year as against a growth
 of 3.7 per cent in July, 2010.

IIP 2 LAST
        Non-durable consumer goods (FMCG) production also grew
 by 4.1 per cent in July, compared to a decline of 0.9 per cent
 in the same month last year.
        Meanwhile, the industrial growth number for June this
 year has been maintained at the provisional figure of 8.8 per
 cent. However, the IIP numbers for April has been revised
 downward to 5.3 per cent as per the final revision from the
 previous estimate of 5.7 per cent.
        The fall the industrial production numbers, as shown by
 the latest data, suggest continuation of the sluggishness in
 the economy, experts said.
        The IIP had expanded by 5.9 per cent in May but there
 was brief revival in June with industrial production growing
 by 8.8 per cent.
        India's economy grew by 7.7 per cent in the April-June
 period, the slowest in six quarters.
        India Inc had attributed the slowdown to rising interest
 rates which have led to an increase in the cost of borrowings,
 thus hindering fresh investments.
        The Reserve Bank has hiked interest rates 11 times since
 March 2010 to tame inflation. Headline inflation has been
 above the 9 per cent mark since December last year. PTI PPB
 AGL