India's industrial output growth slows to 6.7% in September as manufacturing, consumer durables lose momentum

India’s industrial production growth slowed to 6.7% year-on-year in September, as manufacturing and electricity output growth moderated and mining activity contracted further, according to government data released on Wednesday.

The growth was lower than the 7.3% expected by economists in a Reuters poll and the revised 7.8% expansion recorded in August. The moderation points to a loss of momentum in industrial activity, with weakness in mining and slower growth in consumer durables and capital goods weighing on the overall performance.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP), compiled by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), measures changes in industrial output across sectors, including manufacturing, mining and electricity.

Manufacturing, which carries the largest weight in the industrial production index, grew 7.6% in September, down from a revised 8.6% in August. The sector remained the principal source of industrial growth, but the slower expansion suggests that momentum across factories moderated during the month.

Electricity output rose 11.2% year-on-year, compared with a revised 12.3% increase in August. Mining was the weakest-performing sector, with output contracting 6.2% in September after a 4.6% decline in August.

The continued contraction in mining highlights the uneven performance of the three major components of industrial production. While manufacturing and electricity continued to expand, mining activity remained a drag on overall growth.

Growth also moderated across several categories of goods, including products linked to household demand and investment activity.

Output of consumer durables, which includes products such as cars and phones, grew 6% year-on-year in September, compared with a revised 10.5% increase in August. The slowdown suggests a moderation in production growth for goods purchased by households, although the IIP figures alone do not establish the direction of overall consumer demand.

Consumer non-durables, which include food items and toiletries, recorded growth of 1.4% in September, recovering from a 1.1% contraction in August. The improvement indicates a return to positive growth, but the pace remained modest.

Capital goods output, an indicator of investment-related industrial activity, increased 10.4% in September. This was lower than the revised 15.9% growth recorded in August. Although output continued to expand at a double-digit rate, the moderation warrants attention because capital goods production can provide clues about demand for machinery and equipment.

Despite the slowdown in September, industrial production grew 6.8% during the April-September period of the current financial year, compared with 4.4% in the corresponding period a year earlier.

The cumulative growth rate indicates that industrial activity has expanded faster during the first half of the current financial year than it did in the same period last year. However, the September figures show that growth has moderated from August levels.

The monthly IIP estimates are subject to revision as the statistics ministry receives updated production data from reporting agencies.

Kirti jha

Kirti Jha is a Senior Content Producer at Mint, where she writes on mutual funds, taxation, personal finance and macroeconomic developments. Her reporting focuses on helping readers understand complex financial developments through data-driven, research-backed stories that explain how policy changes, market trends and regulatory decisions affect investors and households. <br><br> Before joining Mint, Kirti worked at ET Money, where she specialised in mutual fund research and investment analysis. She tracked portfolio disclosures, fund manager strategies, sectoral allocation shifts and investment trends, distilling large datasets into investor-focused insights. Her work combined quantitative analysis with consumer-centric storytelling, enabling readers to better understand fund positioning, portfolio changes and long-term investment opportunities.<br><br> Kirti holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, and a Master's in Finance from the Jindal School of Banking & Finance at O.P. Jindal Global University. Her academic training emphasised analytical thinking, quantitative research and financial decision-making, providing a strong foundation in understanding capital markets, financial systems and economic policy. With a combined experience in investment research and financial journalism, she is committed to producing accurate, accessible and insightful journalism that empowers readers to make well-informed financial decisions.

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