IIP doesn't reflect real eco growth; change it: Adi Godrej

BANGALORE: CII President-Designate and Chairman of The Godrej Group Adi B Godrej today pushed for changing the Index of Industrial Production ( IIP) saying it has overweight of slow-growing industries and underweight of fast-growing ones.

Asked if he thought the IIP numbers for December 2011 showed that the slow-down is for real, he told reporters that "....the real economy is doing quite well".

"I think some of the indices need to be changed because the IPP indices still have overweight of slow-growing industries and underweight of fast-growing industries", Godrej said adding generally, the economy was doing well.

On reports that the rural demand is slowing down and if he saw such signs, Godrej said: "In our businesses, we are seeing strong rural growth...most of our consumer businessess, especially fast-moving consumer goods...strong rural growth".

Industrial production grew by just 1.8 per cent year-on-year in December 2011 due to contraction in mining and capital goods sectors and a lower manufacturing sector growth.

Factory output growth, as measured by the IIP, was at 8.1 per cent in December 2010.

Output of the manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, rose at a lower rate of 1.8 per cent in December, compared to a growth of 8.7 per cent in the same month of 2010, according to the official data released today.