New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) India’s manufacturing sector improved its performance in April-September 2010 compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, says a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) study.

‘The manufacturing sector has seen a diverse performance during the first half. Some sectors have recovered sharply to grow at over 20 percent while some sectors have remained in the moderate growth range of 0-10 percent,’ said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general CII.

‘Soaring inflation, rising input cost and slow growth in capacity addition are some of the reasons that are inhibiting growth in specific sectors,’ he added.

Out of the 127 sectors covered by the CII-Ascon survey, 43 sectors have registered excellent growth rate of more than 20 percent in April-September 2010 compared to 14 sectors in April-September 2009, which shows a marked improvement.

The sectors registering high growth rate have decreased from 30 in April-September 2009 to 22 sectors in April-September 2010 as more number of sectors have shifted to the excellent growth bracket.

Sectors reporting excellent growth rates include aluminium 22.8 percent, nitrogen fertilizers 21.7 percent, natural gas 25.2 percent, sponge iron 27.23 percent, switch gears 27.28 percent, motor starters 26.88 percent, circuit breakers 26.93 percent, ball and roller bearings 35.3 percent, electrical and cable wires 27.24 percent

Some of the sectors recording high growth are crude oil 10.2 percent, power cables 10.4 percent, and cutting tools 19.8 percent.

Sectors recording moderate growth of 0-10 percent include cement 4.7 percent, diesel 7.8 percent, fertilizer 1.8 percent, refinery 2.6 percent and textile machinery 6 percent.

The sectors that reported negative growth during April-September 2010 include polyester filament yarn 0.3 percent, polyester staple fibre 1.0 percent and edible oils like groundnut oil 20.3 percent.

The survey also highlighted some of the issues faced by the industry including rising inflation, rise in the cost of raw materials and infrastructure bottlenecks.