Carrying forward its double-digit growth for the sixth consecutive month, the industrial output posted a sharp rise of 13.5 per cent in March 2010, leaving analysts and policymakers optimistic about the future.

As compared to 2.8 per cent in 2008-09, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the financial year 2009-10 stood at 10.4 per cent, signaling a significant growth.

Mr D K Joshi, principal economist with Crisil India, a research and ratings agency said that the trend that is coming up is that industrial production will continue to be at a healthy level of 9-10 per cent going ahead, as the base effect wears down.

The General Index stands at 347.3, which is 13.5 per cent higher as compared to 317.2 for the month of March 2009. Manufacturing constituted around 80 per cent of IIP.

Nikhilesh Bhattacharyya, Associate Economist, Moody’s Analytics, observed that the uptick in electrical output is a sign that growth is spreading to the broader economy in line with the opinion of Mr Subir Gokarn, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the rise in factory output was largely in line with the growth momentum.

Electricity and mining output grew at 11 per cent and 7.7 per cent, respectively, as compared with 1.9 per cent and 6.3 per cent in the year-ago period. Moreover, basic goods grew at a rate 10.6 per cent, while capital goods and intermediate goods grew at 27.4 per cent and 12.7 per cent, respectively. Consumer goods posted 10.6 per cent rise, while consumer non-durables grew by 32 per cent.