India's industrial sector witnessed a remarkable rebound in November 2025, with output growing at its fastest pace in over two years, according to official data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
Sharp Rebound from October Low
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) surged by 6.7 per cent year-on-year in November. This performance marks a dramatic recovery from October, when industrial growth had slumped to a 14-month low of just 0.5 per cent. The November figure represents the highest growth rate witnessed in 25 months, aided significantly by a favourable base effect from the previous year.
Sectoral Performance: Manufacturing Leads the Charge
The manufacturing sector, which constitutes more than three-fourths of the IIP, was the primary engine of growth. Its output expanded by a robust 8 per cent in November, also a 25-month high. Analysts attribute this to post-festive season restocking by businesses after strong sales, coupled with increased production in key segments.
MoSPI highlighted rapid rises in the manufacture of basic metals, fabricated metal products, pharmaceuticals, and motor vehicles as major contributors. The mining sector, which had been constrained for months by heavy rainfall, rebounded with a growth of 5.4 per cent. This turnaround was driven by the closure of the monsoon season and strong performance in metallic minerals like iron ore.
However, electricity generation remained a weak spot, contracting by 1.5 per cent in November compared to the same month last year. This was attributed to lower temperatures following good rains, which reduced demand for cooling.
Broad-Based Growth Across Goods Categories
The November data revealed broad-based improvement. In a rare occurrence, all six categories of goods recorded higher production compared to November 2024, only the second such instance in 2025.
Consumer non-durables saw a notable swing, from a decline of 5.2 per cent in October to a growth of 7.3 per cent in November, despite an unfavourable base. Other segments posted strong double-digit growth: capital goods (10.4 per cent), infrastructure goods (12.1 per cent), and consumer durables (10.3 per cent). Intermediate goods grew by 7.3 per cent, while primary goods output was up 2 per cent.
Broader Economic Context and Outlook
The strong November numbers will be welcomed by policymakers, as high-frequency data after the July-September quarter had hinted at a marked slowdown. The performance of the eight core infrastructure industries, a lead indicator for the IIP, also improved, growing 1.8 per cent in November after a 0.1 per cent contraction in October.
For the cumulative April-November period of the 2025-26 fiscal year, industrial production was up 3.3 per cent, slightly lower than the 4.1 per cent growth in the same period of the previous year. Manufacturing output grew 4.4 per cent in this period, while mining output was 0.9 per cent lower and electricity generation was down 0.2 per cent.
This data comes amid predictions of a growth slowdown in the second half of the fiscal year. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which recently upgraded its full-year GDP growth forecast to 7.3 per cent, expects growth to cool to 7 per cent in the October-December quarter and 6.5 per cent in January-March 2026, from 8.2 per cent in July-September.
