A long winter for industry
When the industrial production statistics for the month of August 2012 were released last month, many observers quickly declared that the economy had bottomed out. The index of industrial production (IIP) for August 2012 was 2.5 per cent higher than for August 2011. Some senior government figures publicly claimed the 2.5 per cent per cent year-on-year growth indicated the Indian economy had turned a corner. However, as this newspaper warned at the time, greater caution was warranted.