India’s eight industries designated as ‘core sector’ recorded a combined growth of 4 per cent in January 2026, over corresponding month of previous year, but slower than 4.7 per cent in December 2025, according to data released by ministry of commerce on Monday, February 23.
The core sector growth during April-January of fiscal 2025-26 was 2.8 per cent higher than corresponding period of previous fiscal.
The eight core sector industries are steel, fertilizer, cement, coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and electricity.
Crude oil production contracted 5.8 percent in January 2026, higher than the 5.6 percent contraction seen in December 2025. Natural gas output fell 5 percent also more than the 4.4 percent contraction in December 2025.
Cement output rose 10.7 per cent year-on-year in January compared to 13.7 percent in December. Steel production increased 9.9 percent compared to 10.1 percent in December.
Fertilizer output grew 3.7 percent and electricity generation rose 3.8 percent , helping offset weakness in oil and gas. Coal production also rose 3.1 percent in January. The growth rate of fertilizer, electricity, and coal sectors was 4.1 percent 6.3 percent and 3.6 percent in December, respectively.
