OUR STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD - Significant growth of LSM is essential for economic development however ongoing energy crisis and high mark-up rates were major factors behind the sluggish performance of the LSM sector, said Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI) President Mahfooz Elahi here on Thursday. The large-scale manufacturing sector grew by only 1.14 percent during the fiscal year 2010-11 sharply declining from 4.9 per cent growth in previous fiscal year, reflecting overall weak performance of the economy. Growth oriented measures were required to be taken to pull the ailing industrial sector out of crisis, Mahfooz Elahi said in a statement. He was reacting to the reports that the Quantum Index Number of LSM industries stood at 207.92 points in July-May period of fiscal year 2010-11 as compared to 205.18 points in July-May 2009-10 which was showing that LSM has performed below its potential. The ICCI president said that manufacturing sector should be given top priority. He said that manufacturing sector was bearing the brunt of the high interest rate and called upon the government for taking measures to give a boost to LSM growth. He said that LSM has also suffered because of severe energy shortages and electricity tariff hike leading to cost escalation. He said that construction sector showed a 21 percent fall in its activity during the year and dragged the overall performance of the industrial sector.