At 8.2%, core sectors’ growth hits 5-month high in June
The Hindu
India’s core sectors’ output surged at a five-month high pace of 8.2% in June, as per data from the Commerce and Industry Ministry, led by a 21.9% spike in steel output and nearly double-digit rise in coal and cement production.
India’s core sectors’ output surged 8.2% in June, the fastest pace in five months, buoyed by a 21.9% spike in steel output and nearly double-digit rise in coal and cement production, as per data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Monday.
Seven of the eight core sectors, which constitute 40.3% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), registered an uptick in June, compared to just six in May, when their total output had increased 5%.
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Economists expect the IIP growth, which had hit a three-month high rate of 5.2% in May, to clock a 4%-6% rise in June as well. Coming on the back of a 13.1% rise in output last June, the 8.2% growth in June was noteworthy, they said.
Crude oil was the only sector in the red, marking the 13th successive month of contraction in output, although the extent of decline eased to 0.6%, the lowest amid this streak. Refinery products grew at the fastest pace in nine months at 4.6%, while electricity (up 3.3%) and natural gas (up 3.6%) output growth touched their highest levels in four and five months, respectively.
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Coal production rose 9.8%, the fastest since March, while Cement production rose 9.4%, the slowest in three months. Fertilizers production rose by 3.4%, the lowest pace in at least a year.