Slow growth, price rise but some Diwali cheer

Factories are producing less, exports are shrinking and prices continue to rise sharply. It is a sombre Diwali as consumers struggle with less in their pockets to fund their aspirations - but there are a few silver linings. HT reports. Dynamics of growth

Factories are producing less, exports are shrinking and prices continue to rise sharply. It is a sombre Diwali as consumers struggle with less in their pockets to fund their aspirations - but there are a few silver linings.

Data released on Monday showed that India's factory output contracted 0.4% in September, compared with increases of 2% in August and 2.5% in September 2011. Exports fell 1.6% in October - the sixth successive monthly shrinkage - as struggling economies in the US and Europe cut back on orders.

Elevated prices - retail inflation was 9.75% in October - have hurt family budgets hard, especially at a time when thousands of factories and firms in India, squeezed by costly inputs and borrowing costs, have offered meagre salary hikes and are holding back expansion and hiring.

"The cost of living is increasing and my salary hasn't kept up, so I have postponed a decision to buy electronic goods," said S Jagannathan, a private sector employee from Chennai.

Labourers work inside an iron factory on the outskirts of Jammu. Reuters