Economy recovering, but slowly, says CII

The latest survey, which tracks the growth of the industrial sector for April - June FY16 quarter through responses collected from sectoral industry associations, reveals a slight improvement in growth trends in terms of production over the corresponding quarter a year ago, said CII. It noted that this is borne out by the fact that out of the 93 sectors surveyed, the share of sectors that have recorded excellent growth of above 20 per cent in the April - June FY’16 quarter has surged up to 16.1 per cent (15 sectors) as against 7.1 per cent (seven sectors) recorded in the year ago period, said the survey.

“This is a clear indication of improvement over the last year,” it said. At the same time, the number of sectors recording negative growth has fallen from 26.9 per cent (25 sectors) in the first quarter last fiscal to 23.6 per cent (21 out of 93) in the first quarter this year. While the share of sectors witnessing a high growth rate of 10 to 20 per cent has reduced significantly to 9.7 per cent (nine sectors) from 14.3 per cent (13 sectors) during the corresponding period a year ago, the share of sectors reporting a moderate growth has declined to 51.7 per cent (48 sectors) as compared to 51.8 per cent (48 sectors) in the year ago period.

“The recent trend of slow but continuous progress in industrial growth is noteworthy. There are fewer sectors anticipating negative growth and there has been a significant and perceptible positive movement in percentage points recorded by many of the sectors which were in moderate and negative growth category a year ago,” said Dr Naushad Forbes, chairman, CII ASCON. It also said that an analysis of the use-based classification of sectors reveals that a majority of them in the producer goods segment are still to show some signs of recovery.

The survey has recommended an array of policy measures to boost growth. Some such steps include reduction in interest rates, speedy implementation of infrastructural projects etc.