About IIP

• Index of Industrial Production (IIP) details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity and manufacturing.
• It is compiled and published every month by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• The current base year is 2011-2012.
• The Eight Core Industries (Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity) comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the IIP.

Why in News?

• India’s industrial output contracted the most in at least two decades in April after the world’s biggest lockdown to contain the new coronavirus pandemic froze economic activities.
• The Index of Industrial Production contracted 55.5% year-on-year in April, the most since at least 1996. That compares with a revised contraction of 18.3% in March.
• Among the three key sectors, manufacturing was the worst hit. Mining and electricity generation, too, registered a sharp decline from March.
• However, the government said it is not appropriate to compare the IIP of April 2020 with earlier months, as a large number of responding units have reported nil production during the month.