Infrastructure sectors’ output growth moderates to 5.3% in March
The Hindu
India’s core infrastructure sectors see growth slowdown in March, with high production in cement and electricity.
India’s eight core infrastructure sectors’ output growth moderated to 5.2% in March from an upgraded 7.1% uptick in February, with high growth in Cement and Electricity production offset by contractions in fertilisers and refinery products.
For the full year 2023-24, the core sectors recorded a three-year low growth of 7.5%, compared with 7.8% in 2022-23. However, this also marked the first time in at least 12 years that all eight sectors had recorded annual growth, led by double-digit upticks in steel and coal, even as crude oil output rose 0.6% after 11 years of contraction.
Notably, with a reading of 173.3 in March, the Index of Core Industries (ICI) was 9.9% over February levels, and marked the highest print in at least seven and a half years. The ICI constitutes a little over 40% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
While all sectors recorded higher production levels compared to February, just six of the eight sectors recorded year-on-year growth as well. Fertilisers contracted 1.3% from last March, marking the third successive month of a drop in output, while refinery products shrank 0.3%.
Steel output grew 5.5%, the slowest pace since July 2022, while natural gas and crude oil production rose 6.3% and 2%, respectively. Cement production and electricity generation rose at a five-month high pace of 10.6% and 8%, respectively. Coal output rose 8.7%, marking the slowest growth since last June. However, coal production levels were 20.7% higher than February.
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