Core sector output growth falls further to 1.4% in February

Core sector industrial production in the country witnessed a further slackening in February 2015, growing at 1.4 per cent against the 1.8 per cent growth recorded in January and the 2.4-per cent growth in December 2014.

The index of core sector production fell on the back of a big decline in the production of crude oil and natural gas, which registered declines of 1.9 per cent and 8.1 per cent, respectively. Steel production also declined by 4.4 per cent.

The eight core sector industries comprising coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity had grown at a faster pace of 4.5 per cent in February last year.

The index of the eight core sector industries (Base: 2004-05=100), which has a weight of nearly 38 per cent in the general index of industrial production (IIP), had shown a cumulative growth of 3.8 per cent during April-February 2014-15.

Production of coal, which has a weight of 4.38 per cent in the general index of industrial production (IIP), increased by 11.6 per cent year-on-year in February 2015. Cumulative production of coal increased by 8.5 per cent during April-February 2014-15.

Production of crude oil (weight of 5.22 per cent in IIP) declined by 1.9 per cent in February 2015. Cumulative production of crude oil during April-February 2014-15 declined by 1.1 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Natural gas production (weight of 1.71 per cent in IIP) declined by 8.1 per cent in February 2015. Cumulative production of natural gas during April-February 2014-15 declined by 5.5 per cent year-on-year.

Petroleum refinery production (weight of 5.94 per cent in IIP) declined by 1.0 per cent in February 2015. Cumulative production increased by 0.5 per cent during April-February 2014-15 over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Fertilizer production (weight of 1.25 per cent in IIP) declined by 0.4 per cent in February 2015. Cumulative production of fertiliser during April-February 2014-15 declined by 0.5 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Steel production (weight of 6.68 per cent in IIP) declined by 4.4 per cent in February 2015. Cumulative production of steel during April-February 2014-15 increased by 1.1 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Cement production (weight of 2.41 per cent in IIP) increased by 2.7 per cent in February 2015. Cumulative production of cement during April-February 2014-15 grew 6.1 per cent year-on-year.

Electricity generation (weight of 10.32 per cent in IIP) increased by 5.2 per cent in February 2015 and recorded a cumulative growth of 8.6 per cent during April-February 2014-15.