India’s core industries barely grow at 0.1% in June

Core sector industrial production in the country barely grew at 0.1 per cent in June 2013, against a slow 2.3 per cent pace of growth in May and a 7.9 per cent growth recorded in June last year.

The eight core sector industries comprising coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity recorded production growth of 0.1 per cent in June 2013 against a growth of 7.9 per cent in June 2012.

The sluggish growth comes on the back of negative growth in the production of coal, crude oil, natural gas and fertiliser.

The index of core sector industries (base 2004-05=100), having a weight of 37.90 per cent in the general index of industrial production (IIP), stood at 151.2 in June 2013, which was 0.1 per cent higher compared to the index of June 2012, official data released today showed.

Coal production, which has a weight of 4.38 per cent in the index, moderated by 3.0 per cent in June 2013 over June 2012. Cumulative index of coal production for the April-June 2013-14 quarter, however, was 1.1 per cent lower compared to April-June 2012-13.

Crude oil production (weight of 5.22 per cent) moderated by 0.6 per cent in June 2013 over June 2012, while its cumulative index during April-June 2013-14 moderated by 1.4 per cent over corresponding period of the previous year.

Natural gas production (weight of 1.71 per cent) declined the most with a 17.6 per cent year-on-year fall in June 2013 over June 2012. The cumulative index of natural gas production during April-June 2013-14 declined by 17.6 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Petroleum refinery production (weight of 5.94 per cent) grew at 2.3 per cent year-on-year in June 2013, while cumulative index during April-June 2013-14 recorded a growth of 4.6 per cent over the index of the corresponding period of the previous year.

Fertiliser production (weight of 1.25 per cent) recorded a growth of 11.3 per cent in June 2013 over June 2012. Cumulative production of fertilisers during April-June 2013-14 grew at 2.5 per cent over the index of the corresponding period of the previous year.

Steel production (weight of 6.68 per cent) recorded a growth of 3.4 per cent in June 2013 over June 2012. Cumulative production of steel during April-June 2013-14 grew at 3.1 per cent year-on-year.

Cement production (weight of 2.41 per cent) increased by 2.3 per cent in June 2013 over June 2012, while cumulative production of steel during April-June 2013-14 recorded a growth of 3.3 per cent over the level of the corresponding period of the previous year.

Electricity generation (weight of 10.32 per cent) moderated by 1.2 per cent in June 2013 over June 2012. However, power generation during April-June 2013-14 recorded a growth of 2.8 per cent over the index of the corresponding period of the previous year.