India’s eight industries designated as core sectors recorded an output growth of 5.2 percent in March this year, slower than 7.1 percent reported for February, according to government data released on Wednesday, May 1.
However, the growth of 5.2 percent in March was higher than the 4.2 percent reported for March 2023, the data show.
The eight core industrial sectors comprise coal, crude oil, steel, cement, electricity, fertilizers, refinery products, and natural gas.
The slowdown in growth in March this year was attributed to lower crude oil production and contractions in outputs of refinery products and fertilisers, as per the data released by the ministry of commerce and industry.
Refinery and fertiliser output contracted by 0.3 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
Natural gas production expanded by 6.3 percent, coal by 8.7 percent, steel by 5.5 percent and crude oil by two percent.
The electricity and cement sectors reported growths of eight percent and 10.6 percent in output, respectively.