India's industrial output grew by 4.9% this April
What's the story
India's industrial output grew by 4.9% in April 2026, according to the first reading of the revamped Index of Industrial Production (IIP) series with FY23 as the new base year. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) updated the IIP base year from 2011-12 to 2022-23. It was done to better reflect the current economic structure, with a refreshed product basket, revised weights, and wider sectoral coverage.
Sector performance
Manufacturing sector grew by 6.2%
The revamped IIP series shows that the index stood at 118.9 in April 2026, compared to 113.1 a year ago. The manufacturing sector, which has the highest weightage in the index, grew by 6.2% year-on-year. Electricity and gas supply also saw a rise of 4.9%, while water supply, sewerage and waste management increased by an impressive 6.6%. However, mining and quarrying saw a decline of 5.1%.
Expansion
A look at revamped IIP series
The revised IIP series significantly expands the scope of industrial measurement by including gas supply, water supply, sewerage and waste management activities. It also introduces greater granularity with separate indices for renewable and non-renewable power generation as well as fuel minerals, metallic minerals and non-metallic minerals. The item basket has been overhauled with newer products such as CCTV cameras, aircraft parts, stents, vaccines while outdated products like kerosene, CFL bulbs, and certain tire tubes have been dropped.
Growth leaders
Electrical equipment fastest-growing segment
At the industry level, electrical equipment was the fastest-growing segment with a whopping 19.2% growth. This was followed by other transport equipment at 18.9% and textiles at 15.6%. Machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, fabricated metal products, and basic metals also posted healthy gains during this period. However wood products contracted by 12.5%, while beverages, apparel, printing, recorded media, and furniture registered declines in their output levels respectively.