July industrial output surprises with 2.6 per cent growth

Mumbai: India's industrial production jumped an unexpected 2.6 per cent in July after contracting for two straight months, government data showed on Thursday, good news for Asia's third-largest economy as it tries to emerge from a deep slump.

Analysts polled by an international news agency had expected output to shrink an annual 0.8 per cent in July after a 2.2 per cent contraction in June.

The manufacturing sector, which constitutes about 76 per cent of industrial production, rose 3.0 per cent from a year earlier, the statistics office said.

Capital goods production, a barometer for investments in the economy, rebounded by a robust 15.6 per cent in July from a year earlier.