The output of eight core infrastructure industries declined 1.5% in November – the fourth straight month – compared to November 2018, government data showed on Tuesday. Five of eight sectors – coal, crude oil, natural gas, steel, and electricity – contracted.
Coal production declined 2.5% last month, while crude oil output fell 6% in the same period. The production of natural gas fell 6.4%, and the output of steel decreased 3.7%. Electricity generation, meanwhile, fell 5.7% in November.
In October, the output of eight core industries had declined 5.8% compared to the same period last year.
The fall in industrial production came amid an overall economic slowdown. India’s economic growth had contracted to 4.5% in the July-September quarter – the slowest growth rate in more than six years – as consumption failed to revive and private investment remained stagnant.
Earlier on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced infrastructure projects worth Rs 102 lakh crore for the next five years as part of the government’s spending push to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
Two weeks ago, former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian had termed the economic crisis a “great slowdown”, and said the economy was in the “intensive care due to structural and cyclical factors”. The Gross Domestic Product growth rate from April to June was 5%. Core sectors such as automobiles and manufacturing have slowed gradually due to weakened consumer demand and dearth of investments.
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