New Delhi: The manufacturing sector has shrugged off the impact of Covid-19 and posted robust growth, leading to job creation and higher incomes of workers, according to a survey report released on Monday, prompting policymakers to say that overall economic growth could pick up in the coming months.
The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for the financial year 2022-23 showed that the gross value added (GVA) in the manufacturing sector grew by 7.4% at current prices in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22 and industrial output grew by over 21%. GVA is a measure of economic activity, defined as the added value created by the process of production. While the data is for 2022-23, the lag for calculating the numbers has been reduced to three months from more than a year ago.
Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said the ASI results, which are also used to calculate overall GDP, could translate into higher growth rates and the country could target 9%-10% growth. Niti Aayog CEO said experts may revise their GDP forecasts due to the ASI survey.
The survey showed that the sector witnessed growth for most key economic parameters such as invested capital, inputs, output, GVA, employment and wages in 2022-23 and even surpassed pre-pandemic levels in absolute value terms.
Maharashtra topped the list of major states in terms of GVA, followed by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and UP. The top five states contributed over 54% of the country’s total manufacturing GVA in 2022-23.
The number of estimated persons in the sector rose to 22.1 lakh from pre-pandemic levels (2018-19), while the average remuneration increased over the previous year. The average remuneration per person increased by 6.3% in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22. The top five states employing the highest number of persons were Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka and contributed nearly 55% of the total manufacturing employment in the year 2022-23, the data showed.
The main drivers of growth in the sector in the year 2022-23 were industries such as basic metals, coke and refined petroleum products, food products, chemicals and chemical products and motor vehicles. Data shows that these industries together contributed about 58% of the total production of the sector.
