7.5% spurt in output of eight core sectors

New Delhi, November 30

The output of eight core sectors rose by 7.5 per cent in October with coal, natural gas, refinery products and cement industries displaying a healthy performance, official data released on Tuesday showed.

The production of eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had contracted by 0.5 per cent in October 2020, according to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.

Core sectors’ growth stood at 4.5 per cent in September this year. The eight core industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

During April-October this fiscal, the sectors’ output rose by 15.1 per cent as compared to a contraction of 12.6 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

Coal production surged by 14.6 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last ago, with its cumulative index increasing by 12.2 percent during April-October 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020.

Among other core industries, cement production increased by 14.5 per cent in October, electricity by 2.8 per cent, fertiliser production grew marginally by 0.04 percent and steel by 0.9 percent. — PTI