Core sector output growth edges up to 2.1% in February
01 Apr 2019
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Core sector industrial production in the country expanded at 2.1 per cent in February 2019, at a slightly higher rate than the 1.8 per cent growth recorded in January 2019. Core sector production had expanded at a faster pace of 5.3 per cent in February 2018.
Output in the eight core sector industries comprising coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity, which carry nearly 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew 4.3 per cent in April-February 2018-19, official data showed.
Expansion of the key sector was slackened by a decline in the production of crude oil and chemical fertilisers and sluggish performance in natural gas production and petroleum refinery output.
Production of coal, which has a weight of 10.33 per cent in the general index of industrial production (IIP) increased by 7.3 per cent in February 2019 while cumulative production of coal during April-February 2018-19 increased by 7.1 per cent.
Production of crude oil, (weight of 8.98 per cent in IIP) declined by 6.1 per cent in February 2019. Cumulative production of crude oil declined by 4.0 per cent during April-February 2018-19.
Production of natural gas (weight of 6.88 per cent in IIP) increased by 3.8 per cent in February 2019 while cumulative production of natural gas increased by 0.8 per cent during April-February 2018-19.
Refinery production (weight of 28.04 per cent in IIP) declined by 0.8 per cent in February 2019 while its cumulative production increased by 3.0 per cent during April-February 2018-19.
Fertilizer production (weight of 2.63 per cent in IIP) increased by 2.5 per cent in February 2019 while its cumulative production declined by 0.02 per cent during April-February 2018-19.
Steel production (weight of 17.92per cent in IIP) increased by 4.9 per cent in February 2019 while cumulative steel production increased by 4.7 per cent during April-February 2018-19.
Cement production (weight of 5.37 per cent in IIP) increased by 8.0 per cent in February 2019 while its cumulative production increased by 13.0 per cent during April-February 2018-19.
Electricity generation (weight of 19.85 per cent in IIP) increased by 0.7 per cent in February 2019 while its cumulative production increased by 5.4 per cent during April-February 2018-19.
