India’s infrastructure output, as measured by the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI), has increased by 3 per cent in September this year compared to the same period year ago. The final growth rate for August this year was revised upward at 6.5 per cent. Four of India’s core sectors including of steel, cement, electricity and fertilizers recorded positive growth during the last month, according to the provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry today.
Steel production witnessed a robust growth of 14.1 per cent, Cement production increased by 5.3 per cent, Electricity generation was up by 2.1 per cent and Fertilizer production gained 1.6 per cent.
Conversely, Natural gas dipped by 3.8 per cent, Petroleum Refinery Products decreased 3.7 per cent, Crude Oil production fell by 1.3 per cent and Coal production fell 1.2 per cent. The cumulative growth rate of ICI during April to September period is 2.9 per cent provisionally as compared to the corresponding period of last year.