Core sector expands at a faster clip of 8.5% in April

Core sector industrial production in the country accelerated steadily to 8.5 per cent in April 2016 from 6.4 per cent in March and 5.7 per cent growth in February January this year.

Output in the eight core sector industries comprising coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity, which carry nearly 38 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had declined by 0.4 per cent in April 2015.

Core sector output growth, which showed a volatile trend since April 2015,  has shown an uptick since December last year, recording cumulative growth of 2.7 per cent during April-March 2015-16.

Production of coal, which has a weight of 4.38 per cent in the index of industrial production, increased by 0.9 per cent in March 2016. Cumulative coal production during April-March 2015-16 increased by 4.6 per cent year-on-year.

Production of crude oil (weight of 5.22 per cent in IIP) declined by 2.3 per cent in April 2016 while cumulative production during April-March 2015-16 declined by 1.4 per cent year-on-year.

Natural gas production (weight of 1.71 per cent in IIP) declined by 6.8 per cent in April 2016 while cumulative production during April-March 2015-16 declined by 4.2 per cent over the previous year.
 
Petroleum refinery production (weight of 5.94 per cent in IIP) increased by 17.9 per cent in April 2016  while cumulative production during April-March 2015-16 increased by 3.8 per cent over the previous year.

Fertilizer production (weight of 1.25 per cent in IIP) increased by 7.8 per cent in April 2016 while cumulative production during April-March 2015-16 increased by 11.3 per cent year-on-year.

Steel production (weight of 6.68 per cent in IIP) increased by 6.1 per cent in April 2016 while cumulative production during April-March 2015-16 declined by 1.4 per cent over the previous year.

Cement production (weight of 2.41 per cent in IIP) increased by 4.4 per cent in April 2016 while cumulative production during April-March 2015-16 increased by 4.7 per cent over the previous year.

Electricity generation (weight of 10.32 per cent in IIP) increased by 14.7 per cent in April 2016 while cumulative production during April-March 2015-16 increased by 5.2 per cent over the previous year.