Core sector industrial production plummets 5.2% in September
31 Oct 2019
Core sector industrial production in the country declined by a whopping 5.2 per cent in September 2019, against a 0.5 per cent decline in August and a 4.3 per cent growth in September last year.
Expansion of key sectors were slackened by a decline in the production of crude oil, natural gas, coal, cement and electricity.
Output in the eight core sector industries comprising coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity, which carry nearly 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew 1.3 per cent in the first six months of the current fiscal (April-September 2019-20).
Production of coal, which has a weight of 10.33 per cent in the general index of industrial production (IIP), declined by 20.5 per cent in September 2019. Cumulative coal production declined by 3.5 per cent during April-September 2019-20.
Production of crude oil (weight of 8.98 per cent in IIP) declined by 5.4 per cent in September 2019 while cumulative crude production declined by 6.0 per cent during April-September 2019-20.
Production of natural gas (weight of 6.88 per cent in IIP) declined by 4.9 per cent in September 2019 while its cumulative production declined by 2.0 per cent during April-September 2019-20.
Petroleum refinery production (weight of 28.04 per cent in IIP) declined by 6.7 per cent in September 2019 while cumulative refinery throughput declined by 2.0 per cent during April-September 2019-20.
Production of fertilisers (weight of 2.63 per cent in IIP) increased by 5.4 per cent in September while its cumulative production increased by 1.1 per cent during April-September 2019-20.
Steel production (weight of 17.92 per cent in IIP) declined by 0.3 per cent in September 2019 while its cumulative production increased by 8.5 per cent during April-September 2019-20.
Cement production (weight of 5.37 per cent in IIP) declined by 2.1 per cent in September 2019 while cumulative cement production increased by 0.7 per cent during April-September 2019-20.
Electricity generation (weight of 19.85 per cent in IIP) declined by 3.7 per cent in September 2019 while cumulative generation of electricity increased by 3.6 per cent during April-September 2019-20.