IIP growth may affect GDP: Pranab

New Delhi: Disappointed with India`s factory output growth of 4.1 per cent in August, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said it may impact the country`s second (July-September) quarter GDP."The Index of Industrial Production is not encouraging. It is a bit disappointing and it may affect the GDP of second quarter," he told reporters here.The factory output, as measured by IIP, was 4.1 per cent in August, lower than 4.5 per cent in the same month last year. Mukherjee, however, declined to comment on the extent to which the subdued IIP numbers will impact the economic growth during the July-September quarter (Q2) of this fiscal. "To what extent it (slowdown in IIP) would affect, it would be premature to make any assessment," Mukherjee added.

India`s economic growth fell to 18-month low at 7.7 per cent in the April-June period (Q1). The government expects the country to grow by around 8.5 per cent during 2011-12. As per the official data released today, the IIP growth during the April-August is 5.6 per cent, as against 8.7 per cent in the corresponding period of 2010-11. However, July IIP growth has been revised upwards from 3.3 per cent to 3.8 per cent.