After contracting for the first time in 15 years in the previous month, industrial production recovered to grow by 2.4 per cent in November 2008, even though lagging behind the 4.9 per cent in the same month last year.

For the first eight months, industrial output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose by 3.9 per cent against 9.2 per cent in the corresponding period of 2007-08.

Meanwhile, the industrial growth figure for October 2008 was revised up to -0.3 per cent from -0.4 per cent. Manufacturing, accounting for around 80 per cent of the index, grew by 2.4 per cent in November against 4.7 per cent, while electricity generation rose by 3.1 per cent against 5.8 per cent and mining output was up by 0.5 per cent from 6.3 per cent.

However, capital goods and consumer durables production sank in November. The November data do not take into account the impact of the stimulus packages announced in December and the figures for the next month may be better.