Growth in the country's industrial production slowed to 0.1 per cent in March this year, due to poor performance of the manufacturing and mining sectors, and a sharp fall in capital goods output. Factory output measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production, IIP, had expanded 2.5 per cent in March last year. According to data released by the Central Statistics Office, manufacturing sector output, which accounts for over 75 percent of the index, contracted 1.2 per cent in March, and mining sector output shrank 0.1 per cent during the month. But electricity generation surged 11.3 per cent in March. Capital goods output, which is a barometer of investment, contracted 15.4 per cent in March. And the consumer goods sector recorded a small growth of 0.4 per cent in March.