New data shows a slowdown in Industrial production. (File) New data shows a slowdown in Industrial production. (File)

The Industrial output growth registered a major slowdown slipping to 1.7 per cent in January 2019 compared to 7.5 per cent in the year-ago period, PTI reported.

During April-January 2018-19, industrial output grew at 4.4 per cent as against 4.1 per cent in the same period previous fiscal, according to the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Tuesday.

The CSO has revised upwards the growth in IIP for December 2018 to 2.6 per cent from the earlier estimate of 2.4 per cent. As per the CSO data, the growth in the manufacturing sector slowed to 1.3 per cent in January from 8.7 per cent in January 2018. There was also a slump in the power generation segment as the expansion was almost flat at 0.8 per cent compared to 7.6 per cent in the year-ago month.

Data also revealed that both growth in production of consumer durable and non-durable goods too grew at a slower rate in January compared to the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, retail inflation rose to a four-month high of 2.57 per cent in February. The rise in inflation is being driven by higher food prices. The retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 1.97 per cent in January and 4.44 per cent in February 2018. Food inflation based on CPI, however, was in negative at 0.66 per cent. The latest print is higher than (-) 2.24 per cent in January.

On a monthly basis, the consumer food price index moved up by 0.15 per cent in February against January 2019. Prices of fruits (-4.62 per cent) and vegetables (- 7.69 per cent) continued to decline in February. In January, the prices declined 4.18 per cent and 13.32 per cent respectively. In fuel and light category, the rate of price rise slowed to 1.24 per cent from 2.20 per cent in January.

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