India's Core Sectors Grew 5.2% in March

 New Delhi: The government on Tuesday said that India’s eight core sectors posted a growth of 5.2 percent in March this year as the production of cement, coal, electricity, natural gas, steel and crude oil recorded positive growth in the same month. The index had grown by 7.1 per cent in February 2024 and 4.1 per cent in January 2024, while it stood 4.2 per cent in March 2023.

As per the data released by the ministry of commerce and industry, the growth rate of eight core sectors in India increased by 5.2 per cent in March on an annual basis. The output of the eight core sectors, which includes coal, crude oil, steel, cement, electricity, fertilisers, refinery products, and natural gas, was 7.5 percent in 2023-24 lower year-on-year as against 7.8 percent in 2022-23.

As far as the performance of the eight sectors in March is concerned, coal output showed a growth of 8.7 percent as against 11.6 percent in February. “The natural gas output stood at 6.3 percent as against 11.3 percent in February, while refinery products output was down by 0.3 percent as against growth of 2.6 percent in February,” the ministry data said.

“Similarly, the fertiliser output was down by 1.3 percent as against a contraction of 9.5 percent in February and steel output up 5.5 percent as against 9.1 percent in the previous month. Besides, cement output stood at 10.6 percent as against 9.1 percent in February, while electricity output rose 8.0 percent against 7.5 percent in February,” the data showed.