Capital goods and infrastructure or construction goods were the use-based categories that grew strongly in FY 2023 — option 4.

What the IIP is. The Index of Industrial Production is a monthly volume index compiled by the National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Its base year is 2011-12, and it can be read in two ways:

Why these two categories led. The recovery after the pandemic in India was driven by investment rather than by household consumption. Central and State capital expenditure on roads, railways, ports and housing lifted demand for cement, steel and construction materials, which is what the infrastructure/construction goods index measures. The same public spending, together with a revival of private capacity expansion, lifted orders for machinery and equipment, which is what the capital goods index measures. Both are indicators of investment demand, so it is consistent that they moved together.

Why the consumer categories lagged. Consumer durables were held back by weak rural demand and by high input costs, and consumer non-durables grew only slowly, so any option pairing consumer goods with a strong performer is wrong. That eliminates options 1, 2 and 3 in turn. Option 3 also mixes classifications, pairing a sectoral head (manufacturing) with a use-based head (consumer goods).

Why the IIP matters. It is the only high-frequency measure of the volume of industrial output, so it is used to track the industrial component of quarterly GDP, to guide monetary policy, and as an early signal of turning points in the business cycle.

Hence, the answer is capital goods and infrastructure/construction goods.