Core sector output grows faster at 4.2% in April

Core sector industrial production in the country grew at a faster pace of 4.2 per cent in April, 2014, the first month of the current financial year, against a slower pace of growth of 2.5 per cent achieved in March 2014, the closing month of the previous financial year.

The faster growth was achieved on the back of a general improvement in production across sectors barring oil and gas and marked gains by sectors such as fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity, provisional figures released today showed.

The eight core sector industries comprising fertilisers, cement, steel, electricity, crude oil, coal, petroleum refinery products and natural gas, having a combined weight of 37.90 per cent in the general index of industrial production (IIP), recorded a growth of 2.7 per cent during the April-March 2013-14 period.

Coal production, which has a weight of 4.38 per cent in IIP, increased by 3.3 per cent year-on-year in April 2014. Cumulative production of coal during April-March 2013-14 increased by 0.7 per cent over the previous year period

Production of crude oil (weight of 5.22 per cent in IIP) declined by 0.1 per cent in April 2014 over April 2013. The cumulative index of crude oil during April-March 2013-14 declined by 0.2 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Natural gas production (weight of 1.71 per cent in IIP) declined by 7.7 per cent in April 2014 over April 2013. Its cumulative index during April-March 2013-14 declined by 13 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Petroleum refinery production (weight of 5.94 per cent in IIP) declined by 2.2 per cent in April 2014 over April 2013. Its cumulative index during April-March 2013-14 increased by 1.7 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Fertiliser production (weight of 1.25 per cent in IIP) increased by 11.1 per cent in April 2014 over April 2013. It recorded a cumulative growth of 1.5 per cent during April-March 2013-14 over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Steel production (weight of 6.68 per cent in IIP) recorded a growth of 3.1 per cent in April 2014 over April 2013. The cumulative growth during April-March 2013-14 was 4.9 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Cement production (weight of 2.41 per cent in IIP) increased by 6.7 per cent in April 2014 over April 2013 while its cumulative growth during April-March 2013-14 was 3.0 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Electricity generation (weight of 10.32 per cent in IIP) increased by 11.2 per cent in April 2014 over April 2013 and registered a cumulative growth of 5.6 per cent during April-March 2013-14 over the corresponding period of the previous year.