Core sector output grows at 6% in February

Production of eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 6% in February 2023 as against 5.9% in the same month last year on better show by all segments barring crude oil, according to the official data released on Friday.

The output of core sectors had increased by 8.9% in January 2023.

The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity -- stood at 7.8% in April-February this fiscal as against 11.1% during the same period last fiscal.

According to the data, production of coal rose by 8.5%, natural gas by 3.2%, refinery products by 3.3%, fertilisers by 22.2%, cement by 7.3%, and electricity by 7.6% in February.

According to the data released by the Commerce Ministry, only the crude oil production declined by 4.9% in February 2023 over February 2022. Its cumulative index declined by 1.6 during April to February period of 2022-23 over the corresponding period of last year.

Core sector or key infrastructure industries, which have a 40.27% weight in the overall index of industrial production (IIP), would have a bearing on industrial production data for the month.