Industrial production in the country registered a growth of 6.3 per cent in April. The new series data which was released today with a base year of 2004-05 says, the slowdown of the economy was clear as factory output dropped to just 4.4 per cent. The poor performance of the manufacturing and mining sectors pulled down the overall growth of industry as per the old series with a base year of 1993-94 from 16.6 per cent in April last year. As per the old series, growth in manufacturing, which constitutes about 80 per cent of the index weight, dropped to 4.4 per cent in April from a high of 18 per cent in the same month last year. AIR correspondent reports, mining also grew by a meagre 2.1 per cent during the month under review as against 12 per cent in April, 2010. Growth in electricity production also dipped to 6.4 per cent from 6.9 per cent in the same period of the previous year. Capital goods, whose production growth was just 2.5 per cent in April this year, compared to 64.1 per cent in April last year. Overall, consumer goods also saw the growth rate slow to 5.9 per cent in April from 11.9 per cent in the same month last year. Meanwhile, as per the new series, manufacturing growth in April stood at 6.9 per cent, while mining and electricity production was up 2.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively. Capital goods registered a growth of 14.5 per cent and overall consumer goods were up by 2.9 per cent in April as per the series with a base year of 2004-05. Our correspondent reports, production trends for 100 new items, including ice cream, fruit juice and mobile phones, have been included for measuring the pace of industrial production in the new index series, which was recently approved by the government. The base year for the new series is 2004-05 as against 1993-94 for the old one. The Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) and Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) jointly worked on the new index. Economists say, the new IIP series is expected to help policymakers and market participants forecast economic trends.