New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS) In another sign of robust recovery in the Indian economy, the country’s industrial output is projected to have expanded 10.3 percent in October, as per the latest official data released Friday.
The significant growth in the index for industrial production has come on the back of a 9.6 percent expansion in September and 10.4 percent the month before, shows the new data released by the Central Statistical Organisation.

The statistics further showed that the recovery has been particularly impressive for the manufacturing sector — which enjoys a weight of nearly 80 percent — whose index grew by 11.1 percent in October.

The mining sector expanded by 8.2 percent, while electricity was up 4.7 percent.

As a result, the overall expansion of industrial output for the first seven months this fiscal was 7.1 percent.

“Growth in the first half of this fiscal year is in line with expectations. The stimulus has started showing results,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, after the release of data on industrial production.

He was referring to the three doses of fiscal stimuli — worth Rs.186,000 crore (Rs.1.86 trillion or $37 billion) — since last December to help the Indian economy tide over the adverse impact of global economic crisis.

Commenting on the growth numbers, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia also expressed optimism that economic expansion will continue in the coming months.

“To get a growth rate well above 10 percent is not a base effect,” he told reporters here. “There is an element of growth that is taking place which I hope will be sustained.”