Industrial output grows 4.9% in April

Manufacturing, which contributes 78% of industrial output, grew 5.2% in April, up from a 4.7% rise in March, as domestic demand picked up.

India’s industrial output grew 4.9% in April from a year earlier, driven by a pick up in manufacturing, government data showed on Tuesday.

Employees guide finished corrugated steel roofing onto a pallet in the tube mill at the manufacturing facility of Uttam Galva Steels Ltd., the Indian unit of ArcelorMittal, in Khopoli, Maharashtra. (Vivek Prakash/Bloomberg)

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast 5.2% growth in output compared with a 4.6 percent year-over-year increase in March.

Manufacturing, which contributes 78% of industrial output, grew 5.2% in April, up from a 4.7% rise in March, as domestic demand picked up.

The Indian economy grew 7.7% year-on-year in January-March, its quickest pace in nearly two years driven by higher growth in manufacturing, the farm sector and construction, data showed last month.

The figure surpassed China’s growth rate of 6.8% in the January-March quarter, confirming India as the fastest growing major economy and economists expect the growth to be robust in the 2018/19 financial year that began in April.