India industrial sector surprises with return to growth

Indian industrial production grew a surprise 2.6 percent in July on an annual basis, official data showed Thursday, snapping two months of contraction that underlined plummeting output in Asia's third-largest economy. The preliminary monthly figures were the strongest since March, but still a far cry from the double-digits enjoyed for large parts of the last decade when the South Asian giant was booming. India's economy has slowed dramatically, expanding just 5.0 percent last year in its slowest annual growth in a decade, with the rupee at near record lows against the dollar. Manufacturing output in July increased by 3.0 percent compared with the same month last year, production of capital goods rose 15.6 percent, while the troubled mining sector posted another 2.3-percent contraction. Analysts had forecast another decline. The industrial output figure for June was revised to show a contraction of figures 1.8 percent instead of a 2.2 percent decline initially reported last month.