Petitioning the RBI to slash key interest rates, India Inc said the recovery in industrial production in November must be seen with caution as the performance of critical sectors like capital goods remains poor.

Mr Harsh Mariwala president of FICCI said that "The rebound in industrial growth as per November IIP figures need to be seen with caution as some of the fundamental trends remain weak.”

Led by manufacturing output, industrial production grew by 5.9% in November, 2011, after witnessing a contraction in the previous month.

He said growth of 6.6% in manufacturing need not be seen as an upward trend since growth in major sectors like capital goods and chemicals continues to be in the negative territory.

Industry chamber CII adopted a similar line, saying unless there is a recovery in these sectors, the investment momentum will remain subdued.

Highlighting the negative growth in mining output, the industry bodies raised a red flag over the fragile nature of the recovery in production and urged the Reserve Bank of India to reduce interest rates to revive investment in the country.

Mr Chandrajit Banerjee director general of CII said that "CII remains concerned that the performance of critical sectors in the capital goods and intermediate goods groups has been poor. Without a recovery in these sectors... a sustained recovery will not be possible.”

(Sourced from ET)