Power generation up as offices reopen
Freight numbers, traffic congestion lower than before
Weekly indicators of economic activity showed a mixed trend for the latest week even as Covid-19 cases declined.
Some indicators like electricity generation did better than before, while freight numbers showed lower growth. The seven-day moving average of Covid-19 cases dropped 22.1 per cent to 22,287 on Sunday, according to independent tracker covid19india.org.
Power generation showed gains over the corresponding week in the 2019 and 2020 calendar years, though it was down last week compared to the previous week.
Power utilities across the country generated over 3,800 million units of electricity on average per day during the week ending October 3, 2021, down 2-3 per cent from over 3,900 million units a week ago. The numbers reflect the sharp fall in electricity generation during this period in 2019.
More people went to work than before. Workplace visits are tracked by search engine Google using anonymised location data, along with activities like retail and recreation visits. The data is released with a lag. The latest is as of September 28.
Business Standard also tracks emissions of nitrogen dioxide. It comes from industrial activity and vehicles. Higher levels could point to more economic activity. Delhi emissions were down seven per cent from the same period in 2019.
Traffic congestion dipped in major cities, showed data from global location technology firm Tomtom International. Mumbai traffic congestion was 27 per cent lower than the corresponding weekly congestion from 2019.
The growth in the quantity of goods that the Indian Railways carried fell during the week. It was 4.9 in the previous week, and came in at 0.9 per cent for the week ending Sunday, October 3. Growth in freight revenues fell from 10.3 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
Business Standard tracks these indicators as a means of getting a current picture of the economy. Official macroeconomic data is often released with a lag.
Analysts globally have been tracking similar indicators as different countries took steps to control the Covid-19 pandemic.