India's Core Sector Growth Rises to 6.2% in April

 New Delhi: With the good performance in the production of natural gas, refinery products and electricity, eight key infrastructure sectors' growth rose to 6.2 per cent in April, while the production of eight sectors grew by 6 per cent in March, the official data released by ministry of commerce and industry said on Friday.

As per the data, this growth has risen from a revised 6 per cent recorded in the previous month. The eight core sectors include coal, oil, natural gas, power, refinery products, steel, cement, and fertilisers. “Coal production grew 7.5 percent, while electricity generation rose 9.4 percent. In March, coal production rose 8.7 percent and electricity generation grew 8.6 percent,” the ministry data showed.

“Similarly, steel production grew 7.1 percent year-on-year in March, against a 6.4 percent increase a month earlier, while natural gas output registered a growth of 8.6 percent in April, where it rose 6.3 percent in the previous month. Besides, cement production increased by only 0.6 per cent in April, 2024 over April, 2023,” it showed.

Also, the data showed that the petroleum refinery products also increased by 3.9 per cent in April, 2024 over April, 2023, but fertiliser production declined by 0.8 per cent in April 2024 over April, 2023,” it added.

Meanwhile, the central government's fiscal deficit for 2023-24 stood at 5.63 per cent of the GDP marginally, better than the 5.8 per cent estimated in the Union Budget, as per official data released on Friday. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between expenditure and revenue, was at Rs 16.53 lakh crore, according to the government data.

In the revised estimate for 2023-24, the government had projected the fiscal deficit of Rs 17.34 lakh crore, or 5.8 per cent of the GDP, in the interim Budget tabled on February 1 in Parliament. Net tax collection was at Rs 23.26 lakh crore in FY24, while the expenditure stood at Rs 44.42 lakh crore.