India's core sector growth at 7-month high of 6.7% in June

New Delhi: Eight core sector industries register seven-month high growth of 6.7 percent in June, government data showed on Tuesday.  The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

The cumulative growth of the eight industries – which also include coal, refinery products, fertilisers, steel and cement –during April to June, 2018-19 was 5.2 percent, said an official release.

Production of natural gas declined by 2.7 percent in June as against a year ago, while steel production grew by 4.4 percent.

The data, released on Monday showed that coal production increased by 11.5 percent in June as against a year ago while Petroleum Refinery production increased by 12.0 percent, fertilizers production increased by 1.0 percent, Cement production increased by 13.2 percent and electricity generation increased by 4.0 percent in June.

Meanwhile crude oil production declined by 3.4 percent  as against a year ago.

In May, growth of eight infrastructure industries dropped to a 10-month low of 3.6 percent due to a decline in production of crude oil and natural gas. This was the lowest growth rate since July 2017 when infrastructure industries had expanded by 2.9 percent. The growth rate in April was 4.6 percent.