Industrial growth slowed down to 1.6 per cent in December, 2010, from 18 per cent in the same period a year ago. The slow down is due to the poor performance of the manufacturing sector.In November, 2010, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had expanded by a meagre 2.7 per cent.Official data released today in New Delhi shows that Industrial growth during April-December this fiscal stood at 8.6 per cent. In December, 2010, manufacturing growth fell to 1 per cent from 19.6 per cent a year ago.Consumer non-durables production declined by 1.1 per cent during the month under review. The capital goods sector also contracted by 13.7 per cent in December, 2010.Besides manufacturing, mining growth also fell to 3.8 per cent in the month under review from 11.1 per cent in the same period of the previous year. However, electricity generation expanded by 6 per cent in December, 2010, compared to 5.4 per cent in December, 2009.In terms of industries, 12 out of 17 industry groups achieved positive growth in the last month of 2010. Meanwhile, the Planning Commission today said monthly variations in industrial output numbers should not be a cause of concern. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said month-to-month variation in IIP should not occupy us too much.He said, this high frequency IIP data is not necessarily an indication of an underlying trend. He said in the current year, the Planning Commission's predictions that GDP will grow at 8.5 per cent or maybe a little higher remains.