India industrial output contracts

India’s industrial output in October fell for the first time in 15 years, down 0.4 percent from the same month of last year, it was announced Friday.

The decline in the Index of Industrial Production resulted partly from a 12-percent decline in India’s exports stemming form the global economic downturn, the Press Trust of India reported.

The decline, the first such since April 1993, was especially significant as the country recorded 12.2-percent growth in industrial output in October of last year.

The PTI report quoted policy makers as saying the latest decline was higher than expected. They, however, said they were confident there would be no further shrinkage because of the stimulus package announced earlier this month.

These figures are more disappointing than what we expected, Suresh Tendulkar, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Council, was quoted as saying.