Growth in industrial sector boosts hope for 9% economic growth: NITI Aayog

Industrial sector growth: India is now on course to attain more than 9 percent economic growth due to robust growth in the country's industrial sector, said B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO of NITI Aayog. He was speaking at a media conference after the release of the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

Subrahmanyam noted that the manufacturing sector has meaningfully added to employment, with 2022-23 showing a 7.5 per cent increase in employment through manufacturing industries, which soared up to 1.85 crore from 1.72 crore the previous year. That is quite notable because the figure is above even pre-pandemic employment levels by over 22.14 lakh.

"The industrial sector in India is growing very fast; it is something people have been unnecessarily criticizing," he stated. He pointed to the fact that growth was broad-based across most sectors, reinforcing the potential for ambitious growth targets.

The Reserve Bank of India scaled back its GDP growth estimates to 7-7.2 per cent for the current fiscal year, as against its previous estimate, since the indicative range of 7.3-7.5 per cent was based on private consumption picking up further and rural demand revival. Subrahmanyam also hinted that rating agencies and multilateral organizations may soon revise their projections upward.

The manufacturing average emolument per person, as per the data of ASI, has registered an increase of 6.3 per cent in 2022-23 compared to the previous year. GVA for the sector has gone up by 7.3 percent in current prices, while both input and output went up by 24.4 percent and 21.5 percent, respectively.

The sectors with the largest potential growth in manufacturing were basic metals, coke and refined petroleum products, food products, chemicals, and motor vehicles. This five-sector combined output constituted 58 percent of total output and marked spectacular growth in GVA.

Among states, Maharashtra topped GVA, followed by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh, together accounting for more than 54 per cent of the overall manufacturing GVA in 2022-23. The fixed capital in the industry also increased to Rs 41.22 lakh crore from Rs 37.26 lakh crore recorded during the previous year.

The fieldwork for the survey was conducted from November 2023 to June 2024, which proves that this is an all-inclusive report of the industrial situation.