New Delhi, Nov 22: Core sector industries posted only a moderate year-to-year growth of 3% in October ’03, compared to 6.7% growth registered in the year-ago period, due to the slump in sectors such as petroleum refinery products and electricity. As per official data released on Friday, refinery products grew only 0.1% in October ’03, compared with a robust 11.3% growth in the year-ago period. The electricity sector logged in a growth figure of 1.6% (7.1%), while finished steel grew comparatively slower at 6.8% (8.6%).

Negative growth of -1% was posted by the coal industry, which had grown by 3.6% in the corresponding period last year.
Crude petroleum is the only sector among the six infrastructure industries to report a growth figure higher than last year. This sector grew by 2.7% in October ’03, compared with 0.4% last year. During April-October ’03-04, overall growth of the infrastructure industries had been 3.9%, against 6.5% in the corresponding period last year. Bureau Report