New Delhi: Expressing disappointment over the industrial production numbers, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the government would continue efforts to find practical solutions to boost output.
"The IIP (Index of Industrial Production) estimates reveal that the performance of the economy continues to be disappointing", he said, while commenting on the industrial production data which revealed a meagre growth of 0.1 per cent in July, down from 3.7 per cent from the same period a year ago.
The Centre, the Minister said, "is intensively engaged with industry on the constraints that affect industrial production and will continue its efforts to find practical solutions to the problems".
Only 8 industry groups out of 22 have shown positive growth, he said, adding, "while the Index for July, 2012 (over July, 2011) is positive at 0.1 per cent, it is too early to claim that this is a sign of a turn around".
The sector-wise performance reveals a mixed picture, he said and observed: "There are gains in some areas but there are slippages in some other areas. There is no clear pattern yet".
According to the IIP data, the manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, witnessed a contraction in output by 0.2 per cent in July, as against growth of 3.1 per cent in the same month last year.
The capital goods production was also down by 5 per cent in July against a contraction of 13.7 per cent in the same month a year ago.
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