This is the first time in 16 years that industry shrank for two consecutive months.

As such, the partial recovery in November proved an aberration in recent months with industrial growth turning negative in October, December and January.

Manufacturing output, having a weight of around 80 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), declined by 0.8 per cent and mining production by 0.4 per cent in January, leading to negative industrial growth against a 6.2 per cent growth rate in the same month of 2008.

However, electricity generation rose, though at a slow pace of 1.8 per cent against 3.7 per cent a year ago. This clearly showed that stimulus packages have not given industry the desired boost.