The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) released on 12 March 2023 indicates that for the month of February 2023, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 stands at 138.7. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of February 2023 stand at 129.0, 136.8 and 174.0 respectively. These Estimates are subject to revision.
As per Use-based classification, the indices stand at 139.7 for Primary Goods, 104.4 for Capital Goods, 143.2 for Intermediate Goods and 164.0 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of February 2023. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stand at 108.4 and 154.3 respectively for the month of February 2023.
Retail inflation in March 2023 fell to a 15-month low of 5.66% as prices of vegetables and protein-rich items eased. The retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.44 percent in February 2023 and 6.95 percent in February 2022. The previous low observed was also 5.66 percent in December 2021.
The Reserve Bank has been mandated by the government to ensure inflation remains within the 4-6 percent bracket. The CPI was above 6 percent in January and February. According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), the year-on-year inflation declined in the vegetable basket by 8.51 percent, oil and fats by 7.86 percent and meat and fish by 1.42 percent in March. However, the rate of price rise in spices was high at 18.2 percent in March, followed by ‘cereals and products’ by 15.27 percent.
The overall inflation in the food basket was 4.79 percent in March against 5.95 percent in February and 7.68 percent in the year-ago period. The food basket has a weightage of 54.18 percent in the overall CPI.
