A sharp slowdown in mining sector lowered industrial growth to 7.4 per cent during August 2005 as against 8.6 per cent in the same month last fiscal.
Growth in mining sector declined to a negative 1.3 per cent during the month compared to 4.4 per cent in August last fiscal.
Manufacturing growth slowed down as well to 8.2 per cent from 9.1 per cent a year ago, according to the latest data released by the government on Monday.
The overall Index of Industrial Production would have been even lower had it not been for a slight upturn in the electricity sector which grew 7.8 per cent during the month compared to 7.4 per cent in August last fiscal.
This is the second successive month of slower industrial growth on yearly comparative basis. Industrial sector had grown 6.7 per cent in July 2005 after posting strong growth of 10.8 and 11.7 per cent in May and June respectively.
On a cumulative basis, the Index of Industrial Production for the first five months this fiscal grew by a higher 8.8 per cent compared to 8.0 per cent in April-August 2004.
During April-August this year, manufacturing sector grew by 9.8 per cent as compared to 8.4 per cent during the same period in 2004-05.
The growth in electricity sector was slower at 5.9 per cent in April-August this year against 7.7 per cent in the year-ago period.
The growth in the mining sector also dipped to 2.0 per cent during April-August 2005 compared to 5.2 per cent during the corresponding period last fiscal.