India's March manufacturing output contracts 20.6%
The industrial output for the fiscal year 2019/20 ending March contracted 0.7 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year
A labourer welds an iron pillar at a building material factory in an industrial area in Dasna, in Uttar Pradesh, January 9, 2019. Picture taken January 9, 2019. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/Files
India's manufacturing output contracted 20.6 percent in March from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, indicating the impact of national lockdown imposed to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Industrial output, which includes manufacturing and mining, contracted 16.7 percent in March from a year earlier, compared to analysts' forecast of 8.7 percent fall in a Reuters poll.
The industrial output for the fiscal year 2019/20 ending March contracted 0.7 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year, the data showed.
