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New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI):The Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Friday attributed November’s decline in industrial output to statistical reasons, noting that growth has already bottomed out and efforts taken by the government will yield fruit in coming month.
”This data does not contradict the proposition that the economy has bottomed out. It now needs to move upwards...you need to wait to see what December is like,” Ahluwalia told reporters here.
He was commenting on the latest Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data, which showed that factory output in November contracted by 0.1 per cent. In the same month of 2011, it had grown by six per cent.
During the April-November period of this fiscal, the IIP recorded a dismal growth of one per cent, down from 3.8 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago.
“In this particular case, we have to keep in mind that the base effect has operated in two different way,” Ahluwalia said, adding the decline “is not a matter of surprise.”
On the IIP decline in November, he said, “This year it (Diwali) was in November so what you have seen is a dip in November. This dip in (IIP in November) has to be actually compared to last year’s growth of 6 per cent.”
“I have said this many times, it's not a very reliable estimate of the monthly growth rate...,” he said.
He expressed the hope that steps taken by government have given clear signals of growth in the last several months and would help in improving investment climate.
Moreover, he said, the results of the government's decision to clear major bottlenecks for big infrastructure projects and improve availability of coal for the power sector would become manifest soon.
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