India's core sector growth rises to 12.1% in October For April-October, the output of India's eight core industries was 8.6 percent higher year-on-year as against 8.4 percent in the first seven months of 2022-23 MONEYCONTROL NEWS NOVEMBER 30, 2023 / 07:17 PM IST

 

                                                

In October 2022, India’s eight core sectors – which include coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, cement, electricity, and steel – had grown by 0.7 percent.

India's eight core sectors posted a growth of 12.1 percent in October, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on November 30.

At 12.1 percent, the growth in India's eight key infrastructure industries - coal, crude oil, steel, cement, electricity, fertilisers, refinery products, and natural gas - last month is well above the 8.1 percent recorded in September. The commerce ministry, on November 30, revised this figure to 9.2 percent.

Core sector growth was a mere 0.7 percent in October 2022.

For April-October, the output of the eight core industries was 8.6 percent higher year-on-year, up from 8.4 percent in the first seven months of 2022-23.

The rise in core sector growth in October was largely due to the cement and electricity sectors, whose output jumped sharply compared to the same month last year. While cement production rose 17.1 percent year-on-year in October from 4.6 percent in September, growth in electricity generation more than doubled to 20.3 percent YoY from 9.9 percent in September.

The other sectors to post double-digit growth in production in October were coal (18.4 percent) and steel (11.0 percent), while natural gas output rose 9.9 percent, as per the data.

An improvement in core sector growth in October likely means industrial growth, as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), will also post an increase. Data released on November 10 by the statistics ministry showed India's IIP growth fell to a three-month low of 5.8 percent in September, well below expectations of 7.4 percent. With the eight core industries making up more than 40 percent of the weight of the IIP, the former is seen as a lead indicator of industrial growth.

As such, a rise in core sector growth in October may mean an increase in the IIP growth figure for the month, data for which will be released on December 12.

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