Core sectors grow 6.8 per cent in November

Showing a clear rebound in industrial activity, the eight core sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — have shown a 6.8 per cent growth in November 2017, an impressive growth rate compared to 3.2 per cent in the year-ago period.

The eight core industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stands at 123.9 in November 2017, which was 6.8 per cent higher as compared to the index of November, 2016,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.The growth is aided by robust performance in segments like refinery, steel and cement, official data showed on Monday.

According to the data, the output of refinery products, steel and cement rose by 8.2 per cent, 16.6 per cent and 17.3 per cent, respectively, on an annual basis.Crude oil and natural gas output were also among the items that registered positive growth in November 2017. On the flip side, coal output recorded negative growth.

The data also showed that cumulatively, the growth in the eight core sectors during the April-November period of this fiscal slowed to 3.9 per cent against 5.3 per cent in the same period in the last fiscal.
The core sectors account for 41 per cent of the total factory output.According to the data, crude oil production increased 0.2 per cent in November 2017 over the year-ago period. Its cumulative index declined 0.2 per cent during April-November of FY18 over the corresponding period of previous year.