NEW DELHI: India’s November factory output expanded at its fastest in just over two years, driven by robust growth in manufacturing and affirming expectations of stronger secondhalf growth in FY18. The index of industrial production ( IIP ) rose 8.4% from a year ago, data issued by the Central Statistics Office showed on Friday.The numbers will bolster the government ahead of the February 1Budget after it forecast the economy would grow at its slowest in four years in FY18 at 6.5%, down from 7.1% last year. “The recovery appears to be broad-based as capital goods, intermediate goods, construction goods and consumer durables have shown good growth. Only primary goods and consumer non-durables growth was low,” said Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist at India Ratings.This follows data that have all pointed in the direction of a revival in the second half of the fiscal year and beyond, after growth slumped to a three-year low in the September quarter. Core sector, purchasing managers’ index (PMI) and vehicle sales numbers have been upbeat, corroborating the factory output data. Commercial vehicle sales surged 52.6% in December. India’s merchandise exports grew a robust 30% in November.“In terms of industries, 15 out of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during the month,” CSO said in an official release.Manufacturing grew 10.2% in November compared with 4% last year. It was supported by a 9.4% rise in capital goods production and a sharp increase of 13.5% in construction goods.The manufacturing sector constitutes 77.63% of IIP and the growth signifies encouraging news on employment, a key concern for the government.“All indicators show that we are out of the woods as a far as manufacturing is concerned,” said Saugata Bhattacharya, chief economist at Axis Bank.The government expects the Indian economy to pick up pace in the second half of the year at 7%. A 23.1% rise in output of consumer non-durables or fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) indicates strength in the rural economy, another area that the government is paying greater attention to after recent state elections suggested disaffection among farmers.Manufacturing registered a 3.1% rise in the first nine months of the year compared with 5.7% in the year-ago period. The uptick in the growth of construction goods to a 56-month high was helped by double-digit expansion in steel and cement output.State Bank of India group chief economic advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh expects an improved third quarter driven by sectors such as automobiles, metals, air transport services and consumer staples.