India's core sector, which includes sectors like coal, electricity, steel and cement, has increased by 3.1 percent in October, data showed on Friday. The Commerce Ministry released the data. Comparatively, there has been an acceleration in October against the growth of 2 percent recorded in September this year.
The cumulative growth rate of the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) for April to October, 2024-25 works out to 4.1 per cent with respect to the corresponding period of last year.
Coal production grew by 7.8 per cent in October 2024 over October 2023.
Steel production increased by 4.2 per cent in October 2024 over October 2023, while cement production rose by 3.3 per cent over the same period as demand for these products picked up with construction activity in big infrastructure projects and the real estate sector gaining pace during the month.
Fertilizer production also registered an increase in production by 0.4 per cent in October, this year over the same month last year.
Electricity generation, that carries a weightage of 19.85 per cent in the index of core sector industries, grew by 0.6 per cent in October 2024 as compared to October 2023.
Petroleum Refinery production which accounts for 28.04 per cent weightage in the index grew by 5.2 per cent in October, 2024 compared to the same month last year. This reflects a higher level of economic activity in the transport sector.
Its cumulative index grew by 2.7 per cent during April to October, 2024-25 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
However, crude oil production declined by 4.8 per cent over the same month last year. In October, Natural Gas production also declined by 1.2 per cent over October last year.
I CI growth rate for July 2024 has finally clocked at 6.3 per cent.
The Eight Core Industries account for 40.27% of the weight of items covered under the IIP and hence reflects the industrial growth of the country on the whole.
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