Industrial Output For April, 2021 Surges 134.4% Due To Low Base

The industrial output for April 2021, or IIP as it is called for the month of April 2021 surged, in comparison to April 2020, due to the nationwide shutdown in April 2020.

It may be noted that the nationwide lockdown and other measures implemented to restrict the spread of Covid 19 pandemic from the end of March 2020, had led to a majority of the establishments not operating in April 2020 and consequently, there were many units which reported 'Nil' production, affecting comparison of the indices for the months of April 2020 and April 2021.

"For the month of April 2021, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP)with base 2011-12 stands at 126.6. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of April 2021 stand at 108.0, 125.1 and 174.0 respectively. These Quick Estimates will undergo revision in subsequent releases as per the revision policy of IIP," a press release by the Government stated.

Capital goods and consumer durables saw the sharpest expansion, thanks to almost nil output for April 2020.

Vivek Rathi, Director ‑ Research, Knight Frank India said, "The IIP number for April 2021 was expected to be heavily influenced by the base period, which saw a strict national lockdown and consequent standstill of economic activities. While the second wave of COVID-19 infection in the country has been disastrous for lives, the economic impact of associated graded regional lockdowns has been moderate.

With these graded lockdowns and responsible citizen behaviour towards the pandemic, the country is making an encouraging progress to come out of the second wave. Going forward, we believe that the progress on vaccination will be a key factor that shall instil consumption confidence and ensure sustained demand pick-up. This should also chart out the way forward for improved production capacity utilisation and sustained IIP growth."