India’s core sector output grows faster at 4.7% in March
02 May 2019
Core sector industrial production in the country expanded at a faster pace of 4.7 per cent in March 2019 against a growth rate of 2.1 per cent in February. Core sector output had expanded 4.1 per cent in March 2018.
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 4.3 per cent in April-March 2018-19, official data showed.
Expansion of the key sector was slackened by a decline in the production of crude oil and chemical fertilisers and sluggish performance in natural gas production and petroleum refinery output.
Coal production, which has a weight of 10.33 per cent in the overall index of industrial production (IIP) increased by 9.1 per cent in March 2019. Cumulative coal production increased by 7.3 per cent during April-March 2018-19.
Production of crude oil (weight of 8.98 per cent in IIP) declined by 6.2 per cent in March 2019 while cumulative coal production declined by 4.1 per cent during April-March 2018-19.
Production of natural gas (weight of 6.88 per cent in IIP) increased by 1.4 per cent in March 2019 while cumulative production of natural gas increased by 0.8 per cent during April-March 2018-19.
Petroleum refinery production (weight of 28.04 per cent in IIP) increased by 4.3 per cent in March 2019 while cumulative refinery production increased by 3.1 per cent during April-March 2018-19.
Production of chemical fertilizers (weight of 2.63 per cent in IIP) increased by 4.3 per cent in March 2019 while cumulative fertiliser production increased by 0.3 per cent during April-March 2018-19.
Steel production (weight of 17.92 per cent in IIP) increased by 6.7 per cent in March 2019 while cumulative steel production increased by 4.7 per cent during April-March 2018-19.
Cement production (weight of 5.37 per cent in IIP) increased by 15.7 per cent in March 2019 while cumulative cement production increased by 13.3 per cent during April-March 2018-19.
Electricity generation (weight of 19.85 per cent in IIP) increased by 1.4 per cent in March 2019 while cumulative cement production increased by 5.1 per cent during April-March 2018-19.