Core sector output growth edges up to 2.6 per cent in December

Core sector industrial production in the country gained some momentum towards the end of 2012, rising to 2.6 per cent in December from 1.8 per cent in the previous month. This, however, compares poorly with the 4.9 per cent growth recorded in December 2011. 

The year-on-year decline in growth in December 2012 was mainly on account of negative growth in the production of coal, natural gas and fertilisers, official data released today showed.

The index of the eight core sector industries, which have a combined weight of 37.90 per cent in the general index of industrial production (IIP) stood at 154.6 in December 2012, with a growth rate of 2.6 per cent.

The eight core sector industries comprising coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had recorded a cumulative growth of 3.3 per cent in April-December 2012-13 compared to the 4.8 per cent growth recorded during the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

Coal production, which has a weight of 4.38 per cent in the overall index of industrial production (IIP), registered a growth of (-) 0.2 per cent in December 2012 compared to its 5.5 per cent growth in December 2011. Coal production grew 5.7 per cent during April-December 2012-13 against a negative (-) 2.7 per cent growth during the comparable period of 2011-12.

Crude output (weight of 5.22 per cent) was up 1.0 per cent in December 2012 against a 5.6 per cent decline in December 2011.  Crude production registered a growth of (-) 0.4 per cent during April-December 2012-13 compared with a 1.9 per cent growth during the comparable period of 2011-12.