India’s manufacturing sector continues to disappoint.
Industrial output fell 1.5% in January, the third straight month of contraction, government data showed on Friday.
A year ago, the Index of Industrial Production (IPP) measuring factory output had grown by 2.6%.
After falling 3.2% in November 2015 and 1.3% in December 2015, economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast industrial output would shrink by just 0.5%.
The decline has been disappointing considering industrial output grew 9.8% in October, its fastest rate in five years.
The statement said 10 of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed negative growth during January 2016 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
Between the other broader indices, electricity production rose by 6.6%, while mining was up 1.2%.