Core sectors' output goes up 11.6% in Aug

Core sectors’ output goes up 11.6% in Aug
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Core sectors’ output goes up 11.6% in Aug

Highlights

Coal, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity in focus, while crude oil and fertiliser industries decline

New Delhi: The output of eight core sectors grew by 11.6 per cent in August, mainly due to an uptick in the production of cement, coal, and natural gas, official data showed on Thursday.

The eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had contracted by 6.9 per cent in August 2020 due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to control the spread of Covid-19.

The eight core industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). According to the commerce and industry ministry data, the production of coal, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity increased in August 2021 over the corresponding period of last year.

On the other hand, output of crude oil and fertiliser industries declined. Production of both coal and natural gas rose by 20.6 per cent in August 2021 over the previous corresponding year. The output of cement sector rose 36.3 per cent and that of steel by 5.1 per cent in August 2021 on a yearly basis.

Petroleum refinery production climbed by 9.1 per cent and electricity generation was up by 15.3 per cent. However, crude oil production declined by 2.3 per cent in August year-on-year. Fertilisers production too slipped by 3.1 per cent.

The growth rate of these infrastructure industries during April-August 2021-22 stood at 19.3 per cent, as against a contraction of 17.3 per cent in the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, the final growth rate of the Index of Eight Core Industries for May 2021 has been revised downwards to 16.4 per cent from the earlier estimate of 16.8 per cent.

Meanwhile Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian has said in Washington, this decade will be India's decade of inclusive growth during which it will clock over seven per cent annual growth on the back of strong economic fundamentals.

He highlighted the country's reform process and its ability to convert the crisis into an opportunity that helped it to stand out from the rest of the world. Exuding confidence over India's economic potential, Subramanian told an American audience from the corporate sector that the fundamentals of the economy were strong, even before the pandemic. There were only financial problems.

"Mark my words, this decade will be India's decade of inclusive growth. In FY'23, we expect growth to be between 6.5 to 7 per cent and then accelerating further as the impact of these reforms is seen," he said while addressing a virtual event organised by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Wednesday.

"On average, I expect growth to be greater than seven per cent in this decade for India," Subramanian said. During the current fiscal, he said, growth would be in double-digits and it could moderate to 6.5 - 7 per cent in the next financial year.

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