Barring fertiliser, all seven sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity -- recorded negative growth in July.

Contracting for the fifth consecutive month, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 9.6 per cent in July due to decline mostly in production of steel, refinery products and cement.

The production of eight core sectors had expanded by 2.6 per cent in July 2019, data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Monday showed.

Barring fertiliser, all seven sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity -- recorded negative growth in July.

The output of steel, refinery products, cement, natural gas, coal, crude oil and electricity declined by 16.5 per cent, 13.9 per cent, 13.5 per cent, 10.2 per cent, 5.7 per cent, 4.9 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, the fertiliser output grew by 6.9 per cent during the month under review as against 1.5 per cent in July 2019.

During April-July 2020-21, the sector's output dipped by 20.5 per cent as compared to a growth of 3.2 per cent in the same period previous year.

Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters