Ganesh Kendale
NEW DELHI: The manufacturing sector has shrugged off the impact of Covid-19 and posted robust growth, creating jobs and raising workers’ incomes, according to a survey report released on Monday, prompting policymakers to say that overall economic growth could rise in the months ahead.
The annual survey of industries (ASI) for 2022-23 financial year showed that the gross value added (GVA) in the manufacturing sector rose 7.4% in 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 additional value created by the process of production. While the data is for 2022-23, the gap for calculating the numbers has been reduced to three months from more than one year earlier.
Niti Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam said 7the ASI results, also used for calculating overall GDP, could translate into higher growth numbers and the country could aim for 9%-10% growth. The Niti Aayog CEO said the ASI survey could also lead to experts revising their GDP forecasts upwards.
The survey showed that 2022-23 witnessed a growth in the sector for a majority of the key economic parameters like invested capital, input, output, GVA, employment and wages and even surpassed the pre-pandemic level in absolute value terms.
Among major states, in terms of GVA, Maharashtra topped the table, followed by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and UP. The top five states contributed more than 54% of the total manufacturing GVA of the country in 2022-23.
The estimated number of persons in the sector exceeded the pre-pandemic level (2018-19) by more than 22.1 lakh while average emoluments increasedrose compared to the previous year. The average emoluments per person grew 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, ttar Pradesh and Karnataka and they contributed about 55% of total manufacturing employment in the year 2022-23, the data showed. TNN
The key drivers of growth in the sector in 2022-23 were industries such as basic metals, coke and refined petroleum products, food products, chemical and chemical products and motor vehicles. These industries, taken together, contributed about 58% of the total output of the sector, the data showed.
