Indias industrial output rose 4.3% y/y in December

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indias industrial output in December rose 4.3% year on year, data from the Ministry of Statistics showed on Friday.

That was lower than the 4.5% expected by analysts polled by Reuters. In November output topped 7% while in December 2022 it rose 1%.

Industrial output for April-December rose 5.4% versus 15.3% in the same period last year when the data reflected a low base effect due to the pandemic.

In December, manufacturing rose 2.6% year on year compared with a 0.6% expansion last year.

Mining output rose 9.8% versus 2.6% a year earlier.

Electricity consumption rose 10.4% against 2.8% last year, the data showed.

“The YoY growth in the IIP is likely to improve in the ongoing quarter partly boosted by the typical year-end push in volumes to achieve targets,” said Aditi Nayar, an economist at ICRA.

Indias fiscal year starts April 1 and runs through March.

Nayar added that a fall in exports due to global weakness will be a key risk to Indias manufacturing sector.

(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed; editing by Jason Neely)