India Inc advocate new govt to take favourable initiatives to boost industrial production

Concerned over the weaker factory output numbers for March, India Inc has said that the new government should implement quick and bold reforms in order to boost manufacturing sector's growth. India Inc added that the outlook for manufacturing sector seems to be disappointing and bleak, as sluggish investment and weaker demand continue to plague the sector. Meanwhile, showing no signs of recovery, India’s industrial production (IIP) contracted by 0.5% in the month of March 2013. Manufacturing sector, which occupies 75.52% of weightage in the overall index, continued its weak run with production de-growth of 1.2% in the reported month. Cumulative growth of Industrial production stood at - 0.1% for the period April-March 2013-14. CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee stated that the negative growth of industrial production is extremely disappointing. The factors like high interest rates prevailing in the economy, low consumption and investment demand have become key concerns for the manufacturing sector. He added that in order to revive weak industrial scenario in the country new government should take favorable initiatives soon for speed up the implementation of cleared projects in the manufacturing and infrastructure sector. Ficci President Sidharth Birla said that quick and bold reforms by the new government will enable a high growth path where manufacturing will play a significant role. As factory output growth continue to remain in negative zone, new government should announce bold reforms in new Budget and Foreign Trade Policy to boost manufacturing and investment.