The government on Friday held back the release of the complete data of index of industrial production for April, saying it is not appropriate to compare the IIP data with earlier months due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
An official statement showed that the IIP — which measures factory output in the country — stood at 56.3 points in April 2020 compared to 126 in the same month a year ago.
“In view of the preventive measures and announcement of nationwide lockdown by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19, majority of the industrial sector establishments were not operating from the end of March 2020 onwards.
“This has had an impact on the items being produced by the establishments during the month of April, 2020, where a number of responding units have reported NIL production,” Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said in the statement issued on Friday.
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Consequently, it is not appropriate to compare the IIP of April 2020 with earlier months and users may like to observe the changes in IIP in the following months. These Quick Estimates will undergo revision in subsequent releases as per the revision policy of IIP, it added.
The Quick Estimates of IIP are released on the twelfth of every month (or previous working day) with a six-week lag and compiled with data received from source agencies, who in turn receive the data from the producing factories/ establishments.
For April 2020, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stand at 56.3, the statement said.
The Indices of Industrial Production for mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors for April stand at 78.3, 45.1 and 126.1, respectively, it added.
As per use-based classification, the indices stand at 92.3 for primary goods, 7.7 for capital goods, 42.0 for intermediate goods and 21.7 for infrastructure/ construction goods for April.
Further, the indices for consumer durables and consumer non-durables were at 5.5 and 89.4, respectively.
It is reiterated that, in the circumstances, the IIP for April 2020 ought not to be compared with that of earlier months, the Ministry added.
Along with the Quick Estimates of IIP for April 2020, the indices for March 2020 have undergone the first revision and those for January 2020 have undergone the final revision in the light of the updated data received from the source agencies.
The Quick Estimates for April 2020 have been compiled at a weighted response rate of 87%, the first revision for March 2020 at a weighted response rate of 85% and the final revision for January 2020 at a weighted response rate of 93%, the statement said.
