Core sector output dips to 5-month low of 3.6% in March

For the full financial year 2022-23, core sectors recorded a 7.6% growth compared to 10.4% in 2021-22

Growth in India’s eight core sectors’ output fell to a five-month low of 3.6% in March from 7.2% in February, with electricity and cement production slipping from a year ago, and crude oil output falling for the tenth successive month.

Coal production jumped 12.2% in March, while fertilisers and steel output grew 9.7% and 8.8% respectively – relatively slower than recent months – as per data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on April 28.

For the full financial year 2022-23, core sectors recorded a 7.6% growth compared to 10.4% in 2021-22, with all sectors reporting higher production except crude oil, which shrank 1.7% during the year.

In March, growth in natural gas production was down to 2.8%, the lowest in three months, while refinery products grew at a four-month low pace of 1.5%.

Cement output contracted 0.8% in March, breaking a persistent growth streak in the previous four months. Electricity generation dropped for the first time in at least a year, shrinking 1.8% in March. However, absolute output levels in both these sectors were significantly higher than February - with the cement production index at its highest point since April 2022 and electricity output at it highest since September 2022.