the manufacturing sector saw growth slow to 4.8% in January 2026 from 8% in December 2025 and 5.8% in January 2025. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
India’s industrial activity slowed to a three-month low of 4.8% in January 2026, dragged down by a broad-based slowdown across manufacturing, mining, electricity, and consumer-facing sectors, official data showed.
Growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) slowed from a 26-month high of 7.8% in December 2025, which was later revised upwards to 8%.
“The moderation from 7.8% in December 2025 reflects a sequential cooling, though the underlying breadth remains reasonable,” Vikrant Chaturvedi, Associate Director – Research at Brickwork Ratings, said.
Within the index, the manufacturing sector saw growth slow to 4.8% in January 2026 from 8.4% in December 2025 and 5.8% in January 2025. The mining sector saw growth slow to 4.3% in January 2026, after accelerating in the previous two months.
The electricity sector, too, saw growth slowing to 5.1% in January 2026, down from 6.9% in December 2025. This was, however, faster than the 2.4% growth seen in the same month of last year.
The capital goods sector continued decelerating, with growth coming in at 4.3% in January 2026, the second consecutive month of slowing growth. Growth had been 10.1% two months earlier.
The only broad sector in the IIP to show accelerating growth was infrastructure, which quickened to 13.7% in January 2026, the highest since August 2023.
The consumer durables goods sector saw growth slow to 6.3% in January 2026, down sharply from the 12.4% in December 2025. The consumer non-durables sector contracted 2.7% in January 2026, down from a growth of 8.5% in the previous month.
Published – March 02, 2026 05:45 pm IST

