India's industrial production contracts 1.6% in Jan

New Delhi, March 12 The industrial output in India declined in January, led by a slump in manufacturing and mining activities.

Data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Friday showed that the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for January contracted by 1.6 per cent over the same month a year ago.

For the April-June period of the current financial year, IIP fell 12.2 per cent.

Mining activity in January contracted 3.7 per cent, compared to a 4.4 per cent in December, while manufacturing output contracted by 2 per cent in January after a growth of 2.1 per cent in the previous month.

"After growth in December, the industrial production contracted in January mainly due to weakness in manufacturing and mining components, despite progressive unlocking by the government in most pockets of the country," said Nish Bhatt, Founder and CEO, Millwood Kane International, an investment consulting firm.

M. Govinda Rao, Chief Economic Adviser at Brickwork Ratings, said that continued contraction in manufacturing sector shows that there is still some distance to cover before the economy recovers.

( With inputs from IANS )