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NEW DELHI : India's industrial output climbed for a seventh month in a row in July driven by strong consumer demand, official data showed Friday, fuelling hopes of an economic rebound.
India's industrial production jumped 6.8 percent from a year earlier following a revised 8.2 percent leap in June, figures from the Central Statistical Organisation for July showed.
Economists have forecast that India's strong industrial performance will help offset the impact on overall economic growth of poor monsoon rains that have hurt crops.
While the momentum of industrial output growth slowed from the previous month, "the important point is that the trend is up and the outlook remains generally encouraging," said HSBC economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.
Manufacturing output, which accounts for 80 percent of industrial output, also grew by 6.8 percent from a year earlier in July after an 8.0 percent rise in June.
The rise was driven by inventory re-building and a pick-up in consumer demand, analysts said.
Consumer durables production has risen nearly 20 percent in the March to July period -- the highest rate since June 2006.
India's financial year runs from April 1 to March 31.
Figures late last month showed the economy grew by 6.1 percent year-on-year in the three months to June, picking up pace from the previous quarter when it expanded by 5.8 percent.
Analysts said the data signalled the emergence of Asia's third-largest economy from the global downturn, albeit at a slower rate than giant neighbour China which grew 7.9 percent in the same period.
Earlier this week, India's Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla predicted growth for the current financial year would be in the same range as the 6.7 percent the country logged last year.
India's growth has fallen from the annual nine percent levels it clocked during the three previous years as a result of the global economic slump.
But recent data such as sales of passenger cars, which jumped nearly 26 percent in August to 120,669 units from the same month a year earlier, has spurred expectations that India's economy could pick up pace.
The country's Congress government is seeking to steer growth back to at least nine percent -- the minimum it says is needed to make a dent in the country's widespread poverty.
- AFP /ls
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