IIP growth up just 1.7% compared to pre-Covid periods, manufacturing lags

Flat growth may prompt the monetary policy committee not to go for an aggressive rate hike in August

India’s industrial production climbed to a 12-month high of around 20 per cent in May year-on-year but it is up just 1.7 per cent when calculated for the same month in 2019 before the coronavirus hit the country.

The flat growth may prompt the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee not to go for an aggressive rate hike in August to cool down retail price inflation, which was at 7.01 per cent in June and above the central bank’s mandate of six per cent for the sixth month straight.

The  growth in index of industrial production (IIP) decelerated in May from