Core sector growth plunges to 1.9 pc in September

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SME Times News Bureau | 01 Nov, 2014
The growth of eight core industries slowed down to 1.9 percent in September on the back of a fall in production of crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products and fertilisers during the month, official data showed Friday.

Their cumulative growth during the April-September period of the current fiscal was 4 percent.

The four sectors of coal, steel, cement and electricity posted a growth in production during the month, the ministry of commerce and industry said in a statement.

The index of eight core industries with a combined weightage of 37.90 percent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base year 2004-05 stood at 160.6 in the month under review.

Electricity generation, which has a 10.32 percent highest weightage in the IIP, grew 3.8 percent in September.

Cement production grew 3.2 percent and steel production was up 4 percent. Coal sector grew 7.2 percent during September, while the fuel's production in the first half of 2014-15 also grew at the same 7.2 percent over corresponding period of previous year.

However, four out of the eight industries registered negative growth.

Crude oil output was lower by 1.1 percent in the month under review, natural gas production fell 6.2 percent, while fertilizers output was down a massive 11.6 percent. Fertilisers registered no growth during April-September of the current fiscal over the corresponding period of previous year.

Petroleum and refinery products fell 2.5 percent.

The IIP, the barometer for measuring industrial output, had increased by a marginal 0.4 percent in August.