India’s eight infrastructure industries designated as ‘core industries’ recorded a growth of 3.7 percent in December 2025, a four-month peak and improving from 2.7 percent in November 2025, according to government data released on Wednesday, January 21.
The eight core industries are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizer, steel, cement and electricity.
Notably, five of the eight sectors - coal, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - posted positive growth during the month.
On a cumulative basis, core sector output grew by 2.6 percent during the April–December period of the fiscal year 2025-26, compared with the corresponding period a year earlier, reflecting continued pressure from the weak performance in oil and gas-linked segments.
At the disaggregated level, cement production surged 13.5 percent in December, while steel output rose 6.9 percent, underpinning resilience in construction and infrastructure-linked demand, the government statement said.
Electricity generation increased by 5.3 percent, and fertiliser output grew 4.1 percent during the month, while coal production rose by 3.6 percent, all year on year.
Crude oil production declined by 5.6 percent year on year in December, while natural gas output fell 4.4 percent. Refinery products production slipped by 1.0 percent year on year during the month.