India's retail inflation in May falls to 2.18 pct

The rate showed a downward movement as compared to 5.76 per cent in the same month of last year.

In April it stood at 2.99 per cent.

The government said in a statement: "In this press note, the CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base 2012=100 is being released for the month of May 2017. In addition to this, Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural, Urban and Combined are also being released for May 2017."

Meanwhile, India’s industrial output grew at 3.1 percent in April 2017 from the corresponding period last year, according to the quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), said the government on Monday.

The General Index for the month of April 2017 stands at 117.9, which is 3.1 percent higher as compared to the level in the month of April 2016. The cumulative growth for the period April-March 2016-17 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 5.0 percent.

The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 for the month of April 2017 have been released by the Central Statistics Office of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

IIP is compiled using data received from 14 source agencies viz. (i) Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP); (ii) Indian Bureau of Mines; (iii) Central Electricity Authority; (iv) Joint Plant Committee, Ministry of Steel; (v) Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas; (vi) Office of Textile Commissioner; (vii) Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals; (viii) Directorate of Sugar & Vegetable Oils; (ix) Department of Fertilizers; (x) Tea Board; (xi) Office of Jute Commissioner; (xii) Office of Coal Controller; (xiii) Railway Board; and (xiv) Coffee Board.

The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of April 2017 stand at 99.9, 117.9 and 150.6 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of 4.2 percent, 2.6 percent and 5.4 percent as compared to April 2016 (Statement I). The cumulative growth in these three sectors during April-March 2016-17 over the corresponding period of 2015-16 has been 5.4 percent, 4.9 percent and 5.8 percent respectively.

  In terms of industries, fourteen out of the twenty three industry groups ( as per 2-digit NIC-2008) in the manufacturing sector h ave shown positive growth during the month of April 2017 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (St atement II).

The industry group ‘Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products’ has shown the highest positive growth of 29.1 percent followed by 17.9 percent in ‘Manufacture of tobacco products’ and 9.5 percent in ‘Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.’. On the other hand, the industry group ‘Manufacture of beverages’ has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 19.2 percent followed by (-) 15.6 percent in ‘Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’ and (-) 14.4 percent in ‘Manufacture of electrical equipment’.

As per Use-based classification, the growth rates in April 2017 over April 2016 are 3.4 percent in Primary goods, (-) 1.3 percent in Capital goods, 4.6 percent in Intermediate goods and 5.8 percent in Infrastructure/ Construction Goods (Statement III).  The Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables have recorded growth of (-) 6.0 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.

Some important items showing high positive growth during the current month over the same month in previous year include ‘Digestive enzymes and antacids (incl. PPI drugs)’ (113.4%), ‘Printing machinery’ (57.2%), ‘Meters (electric and non-electric)’ (45.1%), ‘Bidi’ (38.7%), ‘Tea’ (33.8%), ‘HR plates of mild steel’ (26.6%), ‘Industrial Valves of different types- safety, relief and control valves(non-electronic, non-electrical)’ (25.2%), ‘HR coils and sheets  of mild steel’ (24.6%) and ‘Steel frameworks or skeletons for construction of towers including pit props’ (21.3%).

Some important items that have registered high negative growth include ‘Shelled cashew kernel, whether or not processed/ roasted/ salted’ [(-) 72.9%], ‘Axle’ [(-) 60.3%], ‘API & formulations of hypo-lipidemic agents incl. anti-hyper-triglyceridemics; anti-hypertensive’ [(-) 44.8%], ‘Rice (excluding basmati)’ [(-) 39.9%], ‘Plastic jars, bottles and containers’ [(-) 39.7%],  ‘Air filters’ [(-) 31.9%], ‘Tooth Paste’ [(-) 31.8%],  ‘Air/ gas compressors of all types (incl. compressors for refrigerators)’ [(-) 31.6%], ‘Stainless steel utensils’ [(-) 29.6%], ‘Commercial Vehicles’ [(-) 28.8%], ‘Aerated drinks/ soft drinks (incl. soft drink concentrates)’ [(-) 26.5%], ‘Beer & other undistilled and fermented alcoholic liqueurs other than wines’ [(-) 26.1%] and ‘Vaccine for veterinary medicine’ [(-) 24.2%].

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