India’s Industrial Output Expands 4.9% in April 2026 Under New FY23 Base Year Series

New Delhi: Despite lukewarm response from the energy sector amid the West Asia crisis, India’s industrial output expanded 4.9 per cent in April 2026, driven by a strong performance in manufacturing, as the government released the first print of the revamped index of industrial production (IIP) series with FY23 as the new base year, the government said on Monday.

As per the data, the factory output, measured in terms of the IIP, expanded by 5.7 per cent in April 2025. “The growth rates of the four sectors — mining & quarrying, manufacturing, electricity & gas supply, water supply, sewerage & waste management for April 2026 stood at (-) 5.1 per cent, 6.2 per cent, 4.9 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively, while the quick estimate of IIP stands at 118.9 against 113.1 in April 2025,” an official statement said.

The ministry of statistics & programme implementation (MoSPI) has revised the base year of the Index of IIP from 2011-12 to 2022-23. The revised basket consists of 1,042 products mapped to 463 item groups, including 120 new item groups. “New IIP series plugs gaps in previous batch and it includes minor minerals. However, greater weightage are given on plastic, rubber, automobiles in new series,” said MoSPI secretary Saurabh Garg.

The base year revision exercise was undertaken under the aegis of the technical advisory panel for base year revision of the all India index of industrial production (TAC-IIP). The Panel’s report was released on May 25, 2026, laying the foundation for a more robust, relevant, and comprehensive measure of industrial production in India.

This is the 10th revision of the base year for IIP after the first IIP revision was prepared with a base year 1937. “The new IIP series provides greater granularity with separate indices for the generation of electricity through renewable and non-renewable, gas supply, fuel minerals, metallic minerals and non-metallic minerals, water supply, sewerage and waste management,” the ministry said in a statement.

In the new IIP series, a total of 120 new item groups have been added, including cards with a magnetic stripe (debit card, credit card), CCTV camera, articles of non-woven textiles, parts of aircraft and spacecraft, stents, and vaccines. “Also, 64 item groups, including kerosene, fluorescent tubes and CFLs, tubes for bicycle/ tricycle/ rickshaw/LMV tyres, printing machinery, and sewing machines, have been dropped,” it said.

With the new series of IIP, Industry also lauded the steady growth of industrial output for April 2026 despite severe global headwinds and rising input costs. “The growth of capital goods at 16 percent is significantly strong and indicating an enhanced investment and strong aggregate demand in the country. High growth of intermediate goods at 7.7 percent, infrastructure/construction goods at 7.1 percent and consumer durables at 4.3 percent are expected to support the economic activity and GDP growth, going forward,” said Nirmal Kumar Minda, president, Assocham.

Meanwhile, a private survey also showed that with the strong domestic demand and rising output, India's manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in three months in May, although elevated input costs and softer business sentiment softened the overall outlook.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) posted 55.0 in May, above the April reading of 54.7, indicating the strongest improvement in the sector's health in three months. In the PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below 50 denotes contraction.

Goods producers reported the fastest expansions in new orders and output since February and cited factors like demand strength, infrastructure projects, and new business gains as the main reasons behind the upturn. “India's final manufacturing PMI points to another month of possible precautionary stockpiling as the Middle East conflict remains unresolved. Output growth accelerated, while purchasing activity and stocks of finished goods rose at a faster pace,” said Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC.