New Delhi, June 30 -- India's industrial output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew 5.1% year-on-year in May, led by a robust expansion in manufacturing and supported by strong growth in electricity and gas supply sector, according to provisional data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) on Monday. The IIP stood at 122.7 in May 2026, compared with 116.7 a year ago, reflecting an overall improvement in output levels. The May print was higher than the 3.4% growth recorded in May 2025 and also an improvement from the 4.9% expansion in April 2026, as per industrial output estimates, indicating a gradual strengthening in industrial activity. IIP data is closely tracked as a high-frequency indicator of economic activity and provides an early signal on manufacturing momentum, investment demand and overall growth trends in the economy. The release marks the second month this fiscal year of the new IIP series with 2022-23 as the base year, which replaced the 2011-12 series. The new series aims to better reflect the evolving structure of India's industrial economy, emerging manufacturing segments, and new infrastructure-related activities. MoSPI has shifted its methodology, adopting the output producer price index (PPI) as a deflator instead of the wholesale price index (WPI) for items measured in value terms. Consequently, the ministry has revised and re-released the entire 2022-23 base series using PPI, superseding the WPI-based data released on June 1. Manufacturing, which accounts for the largest share (76.062%) in the IIP, grew 5.5% year-on-year in May, slowing from 6.1% in April and significantly higher than 4.2% in the same month a year ago, providing the main impetus to overall growth. The expansion was relatively broad-based, with 16 of 23 industry groups within manufacturing recording positive growth. Key contributors included basic metals (4.6%), motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (14.5%), and electrical equipment (20.8%), supported by higher production of steel products, auto components, commercial vehicles and industrial machinery. Mining and quarrying output declined 1.6% year-on-year in May, moderating from a 3.8% decline in April, far lower than 5.8% growth in May 2025, indicating fall in extraction activity. Electricity generation and gas supply increased 9.9% during the month, improving from 4.6% growth in April and far better than negative 5.1% in the year-ago period, pointing to improvement in power demand. Water supply, sewerage and water management grew 5.5% in May....