Core sector growth slows further to 3.5 per cent in October
27 Nov 2009
The growth rate of the six core sector industries comprising crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel, eased further to 3.5 per cent in October 2009 from 4.0 per cent (provisional) in September and 7.1 per cent in August this year.
The index of the six core sector industries having a combined weight of 26.7 per cent in the index of industrial production (base 1993-94 = 100) stood at 254.8 (provisional) in October 2009.
The decline in core sector growth has been attributed to lower production of crude oil and refinery products.
The growth rate of 3.5 per cent, however, compares well with the 2.0 per cent growth recorded in October 2008.
During the first seven months of the current fiscal (April-October 2009-10), the six core sector industries recorded a growth of 4.7 per cent (provisional) against a 3.3 per cent growth during the corresponding period of the previous year.
Production of crude oil (which has a weight of 4.17 per cent in the IIP) registered a negative growth of (-) 2.2 per cent (provisional) in October 2009 compared with a growth rate of (-) 0.2 per cent in October 2008. Crude oil production registered a negative growth of (-) 1.4 per cent (provisional) during April-October 2009-10 compared with (-) 0.7 per cent during the same period of 2008-09.