Growth of eight core industries recovered to 1.3 per cent in December 2019 after remaining in the negative zone in the previous four months.

Industrial growth in these infrastructure sectors was helped by expansion in the production of coal, fertiliser and refinery products.

The growth was, however, lower than 2.1 per cent recorded in December 2018.

Production of crude oil, natural gas, and electricity contracted in the month under review.

Sectors which recorded positive growth were coal, refinery products and fertiliser.

However, growth rate of steel and cement sectors slowed down to 1.9 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.

During the April-December period, core industries recorded growth of 0.2 per cent against 4.8 per cent in the year-ago period.

The eight core sectors recorded negative growth in the four months to November 2019.

These eight sectors comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the IIP.