New Delhi: Industrial output grew by 7.1 per cent in December, maintaining the recovery momentum, on the back of robust performance by manufacturing as well as higher offtake of capital goods and non-durable consumer goods.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had grown at 2.4 per cent in December 2016, as per the data released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The IIP growth for November, 2017 was revised upwards to 8.8 per cent from provisional estimates of 8.4 per cent released last month.

The IIP growth in December was mainly on account of uptick in manufacturing sector which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the index. It grew by 8.4 per cent during the month as compared to just 0.6 per cent in December 2016.

The capital goods, a barometer of investments, showed a sharp increase in output by 16.4 per cent in December, 2017 as against a decline of 6.2 per cent year ago.

The consumer non-durables, which are mainly fast moving consumer goods, too showed an increase of 16.5 per cent as against contraction of 0.2 per cent.

As per use-based classification, the growth rates in December 2017 over December 2016 are 3.7 percent in Primary goods, 6.2 per cent in Intermediate goods and 6.7 percent in Infrastructure/Construction Goods.

The Consumer durables have recorded growth of 0.9 per cent in December 2017.

In terms of industries, 16 out of 23 industry groups  in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during December 2017 as compared to the same month year ago.