India’s industrial sector grew only 0.4% in October, showing its slowest improvement in the last 14 months. The new data has been shared by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
This slow growth happened mainly because manufacturing became weak and mining and electricity production fell.
Growth Much Lower than Last Year
In October last year, industrial output increased by 3.7%, which is much higher than this year’s 0.4%. Even in September 2025, growth was stronger at 4% (revised from 3.2%). The last time India saw such weak industrial growth was in August 2024, when growth was almost zero.
Why is Industrial Growth Weak?
Experts say the weak growth shows that the industrial recovery is still uneven and fragile. Some reasons include:
- Lower domestic demand
- Uncertain global conditions
- Problems in specific industries
- Fewer working days in October because of festivals
- Delayed withdrawal of rains affecting mining and electricity
An economist, N.R. Bhanumurthy, explained that since IIP is based on production volume, fewer working days during festivals reduced output.
Sector-Wise Performance in October 2025
October showed a mixed trend across different industrial sectors:
Manufacturing Sector
Manufacturing is the biggest part of the IIP (about 78%). In October, manufacturing grew only 1.8%, much lower than:
- 5.6% in September
- 4.4% in October last year
Mining Sector
Mining output fell by 1.8% in October. In comparison, it had decreased by 0.4% in September but had grown by 0.9% last year.
Electricity Sector
Electricity production went down by 6.9% in October. In September, it had grown by 3.1%, and last year in October, it increased by 2%.
Mixed Signals for the Economy
Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda, said that the industrial numbers send mixed signals. This is because GST collections showed strong consumption, but IIP numbers show slow production. He also said the rains and fewer working days affected mining and power production.
Performance by Use-Based Categories
Different categories of goods performed differently in October:
Goods That Grew
- Capital goods: Up by 2.4%
- Intermediate goods: Up by 0.9%
- Infrastructure/Construction goods: Up by 7.9%
- Consumer durables: Slight fall of 0.5%, but better than last month’s strong growth
Goods That Fell
- Primary goods: Down by 0.6%
- Consumer non-durables (daily-use items): Down by 4.4%
What to Expect in the Coming Months?
Economists believe that October–December (Q3) will be very important for the industry. They expect that the impact of the new GST system and the reduced income-tax rates announced earlier may help improve consumer spending and push industrial growth.
This industrial data also came just after India reported a strong 8.2% GDP growth for July–September, showing that the economy overall is still performing well.
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