'Manufacturing sector posts robust growth in H1'

NEW DELHI: The manufacturing industry is growing at a robust pace, with 65 per cent of sectors recording high production growth during the first half this fiscal, a CII survey has found.

According to the CII-ASCON survey, manufacturing industries have witnessed a greater shift to the 'excellent' and 'high' growth categories during April-September 2006 as compared to the same period last year.

CII said of the total 125 sectors reporting production, 34 sectors recorded an 'excellent' growth rate of more than 20 per cent, while 47 sectors recorded a 'high' growth rate of 10-20 per cent. Thirty-one sectors registered a 'moderate' growth of 0-10 per cent. Sectors reporting negative growth were down to 14, as compared to 20 last year.

"The manufacturing sector recorded a growth of 9.1 per cent in the 2005-06 fiscal, compared with 9.2 per cent in the previous year. The manufacturing sector seems set to enhancing its share in the GDP to the targeted 30 per cent," said Sarita Nagpal, Head of CII's Manufacturing Services Division.

Efforts of Indian companies to continuously enhance designs and engineering skills, build new capabilities for product and technology innovation and leverage resources from around the world to provide value to customers is contributing in transforming "Made in India" into a global brand, CII Industry Council Chairman Satish Kaura said.

"Last year, most foreign direct investment went into the manufacturing sector. The trend seems to be irreversible," Kaura added.