Production in India’s eight core industries that include power, coal, steel, cement, crude oil and natural gas fell 2.5 % in February, dampening the hope of a revival in overall factory output, government data showed yesterday.
The core industries, which have a combined weight of 37.90 percent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), registered a growth of 7.7 percent in February last year. The cumulative growth of core industries in the April-February period of 2012-13 declined to 2.6 percent as compared to 5.2 % recorded during the same period of previous year, according to data released by the commerce and industry ministry.
“The decline in growth in February 2013 was on account of negative growth witnessed in electricity generation and in the production of crude oil, coal, natural gas and fertilizers,” the ministry said in a statement. The biggest disappointment was from the petroleum and coal sectors. Natural gas output slumped by 20.1 % in February year-on-year. Crude output fell by 4 %.
Coal production dropped 8 %, while fertilizers output fell 4 % and electricity output slumped 4.1 % during the month under review. However, cement production rose 3.9 % and steel output increased by a sluggish 0.5 %. The petroleum refinery products increased 4.3 % in February.