The growth of India’s eight core industries dropped to a 10-month low of 3.6% in May from a high of 4.6% in April 2018, government data showed on Monday.
The index of eight core sectors includes coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity. The eight core industries comprise over 40% of the weight of items included in measuring the index of industrial production.
The cumulative growth in the index during April-May was 4.1%, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The growth in the overall index was the lowest since July 2017, when it was 2.9%. “The combined index of eight core industries stands at 131.4 in May 2018, which was 3.6% higher as compared to the index of May 2017,” the ministry said.
Coal production showed the best growth – 12.1% year-on-year – among all eight core sector industries in May. The next best performer was the fertiliser industry, whose production grew 8.4%, followed by the cement industry, whose production was up 5.2%. Petroleum refinery products grew 4.9%, electricity generation was up 3.5% and steel production increased by 0.5%.
The two industries which showed negative growth were crude oil (down 2.9%) and natural gas (down 1.4%).
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