Indian industrial output jumped 5.0 per cent in December as robust domestic demand bolstered the manufacturing sector, official data released on Tuesday showed.

That was up sharply from December 2001 when industrial output rose 3.0 per cent as a demand slowdown gripped Asia's third-largest economy.

Output in the first nine months of 2002-03 (April-March) jumped 5.3 per cent compared with 2.5 per cent in the same period the previous year, the Central Statistical Organisation said.

Industry accounts for 27 per cent of GDP but kicks in a large amount to government revenues because most other parts of the economy, such as the vital agricultural sector, are largely untaxed.

The data came days after the agency estimated economic growth would slow to 4.4 per cent in 2002-03 from 5.6 per cent a year earlier, hit by a poor farming performance as a result of the country's worst drought in 15 years.

Nearly 70 per cent of India's more than one billion people earn their living from agriculture.

Manufacturing rose by 5.3 per cent in December compared to three per cent in the same month a year earlier.

Capital goods sector growth surged 11.7 per cent in December, reflecting increasing industrial activity, compared to a decline of 3.9 per cent in the same month a year earlier.

Consumer non-durables which range from shoes to shampoos rose 9.2 per cent in December, up from a 7.3 per cent rise in the same year-earlier month. Consumer goods rose 6.6 per cent compared to a jump of 7.0 per cent in the corresponding month the previous year.

Mining grew 4.6 per cent in December compared with a rise of 1.8 per cent a year earlier while the electricity sector rose 2.5 per cent, down from an increase of 4.2 per cent in same month the previous year.