India’s industrial output grew 4.9 per cent year-on-year in April 2026, driven primarily by strong manufacturing activity, according to the first official release of the revised All India Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with the new base year of 2022-23.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday launched the new IIP series, replacing the previous 2011-12 base year, with an expanded industrial coverage, revised weights and a revamped product basket aimed at better reflecting the current structure of the economy.
The Quick Estimate of the IIP stood at 118.9 in April 2026, compared with 113.4 in April 2025, registering an annual growth rate of 4.9 per cent.
Manufacturing, which carries the highest weight in the index at 76.06 per cent, grew 6.2 per cent during the month and emerged as the principal driver of industrial expansion. Electricity and Gas Supply recorded growth of 4.9 per cent, while Water Supply, Sewerage and Waste Management expanded by 6.6 per cent. Mining and Quarrying, however, contracted by 5.1 per cent during the period.
The indices for Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing, Electricity and Gas Supply, and Water Supply, Sewerage and Waste Management stood at 104.6, 119.3, 125.5 and 146.1 respectively.
Within manufacturing, 17 of the 23 industry groups recorded positive growth in April. The strongest contributors were the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, which grew by 12.7 per cent, manufacture of electrical equipment at 19.2 per cent, and manufacture of machinery and equipment at 12.9 per cent.
Growth in the automobile sector was led by increased production of passenger cars, auto components and wheel rims. In electrical equipment, key contributors included switchgear and circuit breakers, carbon electrodes and brushes, and transformers. Machinery and equipment output was supported by higher production of firefighting equipment, cranes and stationary internal combustion engines.
Several other manufacturing sectors also posted notable gains. Other transport equipment expanded by 18.9 per cent, textiles by 15.6 per cent, paper and paper products by 13.8 per cent, fabricated metal products by 11.7 per cent and basic metals by 5.8 per cent. However, some sectors such as beverages, wearing apparel, wood products, printing and reproduction of recorded media and furniture registered declines during the month.
According to the use-based classification, capital goods recorded the highest growth at 16 per cent, indicating sustained investment activity. Intermediate goods grew 7.7 per cent, infrastructure and construction goods increased 7.1 per cent, consumer durables rose 4.3 per cent and consumer non-durables expanded 2.8 per cent. Primary goods registered a modest growth of 0.8 per cent.
MoSPI said intermediate goods, capital goods and infrastructure/construction goods were the largest contributors to overall industrial growth during April.
The release also marks a significant overhaul of the country’s industrial production measurement framework. The base year has been revised from 2011-12 to 2022-23 under the recommendations of the Technical Advisory Committee for Base Year Revision of the All India Index of Industrial Production, whose report was released on May 25.
For the first time, the IIP has expanded beyond the traditional sectors of mining, manufacturing and electricity to include Gas Supply as well as Water Supply, Sewerage and Waste Management activities. The ministry said the broader coverage would provide a more comprehensive picture of industrial activity and bring the index closer to international standards.
The revised series offers greater sectoral granularity. Mining data are now separately compiled for fuel minerals, metallic minerals including rare earth minerals, and non-metallic minerals including minor minerals. Similarly, electricity generation is now tracked separately for renewable and non-renewable sources.
The item basket has also undergone major revisions. The new series covers 1,042 products grouped into 463 item groups, compared with 839 products and 407 item groups in the previous series. New-age products such as CCTV cameras, aircraft and spacecraft parts, non-woven textile products, stents and vaccines have been added, while obsolete items including kerosene, fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have been removed.
The ministry said the number of item groups for which production data are collected in value terms has increased substantially from 109 to 234, improving the quality and representativeness of industrial measurement.
Weights used in the revised index have been updated using Gross Value Added estimates from the National Accounts Statistics and the Annual Survey of Industries for 2022-23. Electricity weights are based on revenue shares of renewable and non-renewable sources, while mining weights reflect the contribution of individual minerals to sectoral GVA.
The new IIP series also incorporates the National Industrial Classification (NIC) 2025 and includes provisions for replacing factories that have become non-operational during the life of the series to maintain representativeness.
Four new data source agencies have been added, including IREL (India) Limited for rare earth minerals, state Directorates of Economics and Statistics for minor minerals, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation for newly included activities.
MoSPI released linking factors to facilitate comparison between the old and new series at the aggregate level. The linking factors are 1.1890 for Mining and Quarrying, 1.3700 for Manufacturing, 1.8495 for Electricity and 1.3834 for the General Index. However, the ministry cautioned that direct comparisons between the two series should be made carefully because of significant changes in coverage, methodology, product basket, sectoral composition and weights.
According to the revised series, industrial growth stood at 6.7 per cent in 2023-24, 6.4 per cent in 2024-25 and 4.3 per cent in 2025-26. Under the previous series, the corresponding growth rates were 5.9 per cent, 4.0 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively.
The revised data also indicate stronger performance in capital goods, which grew 11.7 per cent in 2025-26 compared with 8.3 per cent under the old series, highlighting the impact of methodological changes and updated industrial coverage.
MoSPI said the new IIP series provides a more representative, reliable and methodologically robust measure of industrial growth, reflecting changes in India’s economic structure and industrial landscape.
The next release of the Index of Industrial Production for May 2026 is scheduled for June 29.
