New Delhi: India’s industrial production contracted for the second straight month in December, while retail inflation unexpectedly edged up to a 16-month high in January throwing a challenge to the Narendra Modi government before the forthcoming Union Budget.
Industrial production growth shrank by 1.3 per cent in December. The contraction, however, was smaller than a revised 3.4 per cent fall in November, according to data released by Central Statistics Office on Friday.
Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index too rose for the sixth straight month to 5.69 per cent in January, on the back of costlier food prices including pluses. The pace of retail price rise in January 2016 is the highest since 6.46 per cent in September 2014. The manufacturing sector, which accounts for over 75 per cent of the IIP, declined by 2.4 per cent against a growth of 4.1 per cent in December 2014.
