The Reserve Bank of India, which mainly factors in retail inflation to decide its monetary policy, has been tasked by the government to ensure the rate of price rise remains around 4 per cent.
The Sensex ended down 251 points at 27,351 and the Nifty shed 65 points to close at 8,228.
Expressing concerns over slow industrial production growth, industry today asked the Reserve Bank to cut rates in its policy review next month to boost investments and bring the growth back on track.
Cement production contracted by 2.7 per cent as against an expansion of 6.2 per cent in October 2016.
The BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday recovered by over 50 points in early trade, snapping its eight-session losing streak, on fresh buying by funds and retailers ahead of industrial output data, amid a firming trend in other Asian bourses.
A team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Petroleum in Dehra Dun has developed a new technology to convert environmentally-hazardous plastic into petroleum products.
Forex dealers said dollar selling by exporters and a higher opening in the equity market also supported the rupee.
Growth in factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production, was higher at 6.7 per cent in February 2011.
Except for crude oil, natural gas and fertilisers, all other segments registered healthy growth.
India has the capacity and the resilience to overcome economic crisis, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha.
In the metal pack, Tata Steel was up 3.7% while Vedanta was up 1.8% .
The mining sector grew by 4.3 per cent in June as against a dip of 4.6 per a year ago.
"The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is expected to remain subdued and register below 5 per cent growth during the remaining months of FY'12 as production activity continues to be impacted by the slowdown in investment demand and the weak business and consumer sentiment," D&B said in the latest issue of its 'Economic Observer' report.
Power generation grew by 14.6 per cent in November.
India may end the financial year with a seven per cent GDP growth rate, as the economic deceleration is expected to continue in the third quarter, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.
The broader NSE Nifty, in a volatile session, recaptured the key 11,300-mark. It ended at 11,369.90, up 82.40 points or 0.73 per cent.
IIP growth has been revised upwards to 2.5 per cent in December, from the provisional estimates of 1.8 per cent.
India's industrial growth has been crawling below five per cent for months now and overall economic growth has moderated to a two-year low of 6.9 per cent in the second quarter of this financial year, say the statistics.
Continuing its dismal performance, industrial growth fell further to 1.9 per cent in September, mainly due to poor output from the manufacturing sector.
The industrial growth number for the month of December has been revised upward to 2.53 per cent from the provisional number of 1.6 per cent released earlier.
Eight infrastructure industries grew by 3.5 per cent in August this year, down from 4.4 per cent expansion witnessed in the same month last year.
The SBI report, however, said the economic growth rate will pick up pace in 2020-21 to 6.2 per cent.
Industrial production in May slowed to 2.7 per cent from 5.6 per cent a year ago, dragged down by manufacturing, strengthening the case for an RBI rate cut.
Pronab Sen, principal advisor in the Planning Commission, says that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact GDP number for the current fiscal, as IIP data is questionable and contradicts with exports growth story.
Currently, the government evaluates performance of six key sectors -- crude oil, petroleum refinery, cement, electricity, finished steel and coal -- on a monthly basis.
Encouraged by the industrial production growth rate of 10.8 per cent in October, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday sounded confident that the trend would continue and the fiscal would end with double-digit growth rate.
The Nifty closed at 5,099, up 125 points.
IIP-based cumulative industrial output growth during April-December 2010 was 8.6 per cent, on a par with the growth rate of the corresponding months of the previous year, says the Economic Survey 2010-11 which was presented by the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Parliament on Friday.
During the April-July period of this fiscal, IIP growth stood at 5.8 per cent, as against 9.7 per cent in the corresponding four-month period last year.
RBI moves will further add to corporate woes. Harsh Mariwala, the president of industry body Ficci, said, "I am afraid that with such a hawkish monetary stand, the investment environment would become even more difficult. Growth and employment targets will certainly not be achieved."
Industrial growth during the April-June quarter stood at 6.8 per cent.
The manufacturing sector, which accounts for over 75 per cent of the total weight of the index, grew by just 5.6 per cent in May.
Sensex may remain under pressure this week due to weak global factors.
Election results on Friday will determine the strength of the ruling coalition party Congress which will also determine market direction.
Led by crude oil and finished steel, the output of the six core infrastructure industries grew by 7.4 per cent in March, 2011, an improvement from the 6.8 per cent expansion clocked a year ago.
While demand for consumer durables has been growing fast, investors need to be selective as stock valuations have risen even faster.
If the year 2010 was the year of the hatchbacks, it appears that the year 2011 is all set to be big on sedan launches.
If government statistics are at variance with private data flow, chances are high that the latter presents a picture closer to reality.
Among other things, the agenda is likely to focus on increasing private investment, employment generation and giving relief to the farm sector
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