Core sector growth rises to 6.2% in April

Commerce Ministry released core sector growth figures for April 2024 on May 31

India's eight core sectors posted a growth of 6.2 percent in April, backed by strong electricity and steel output, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on May 31.

This growth has risen from a revised 6 percent 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.

Steel production grew 7.1 percent year-on-year in March, against a 6.4 percent increase a month earlier. Natural gas output registered a growth of 8.6 percent in April, while it rose 6.3 percent in the previous month.

Cement production rose 0.6 percent in April year-on-year, its growth slowing compared with March's 10.6 percent rise. Crude oil production rose 1.6 percent in April, compared with a 2 percent growth a month earlier.

All sectors but fertilisers registered growth.

Fertiliser production registered a fall of 0.8 percent in April, compared with a fall of 1.3 percent in March, while refinery products rose 3.9 percent, against a 1.5 percent rise in the previous month.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said: "The start of the new fiscal year has been on a good note with the core sector output growing at 6.2 percent YoY in April 2024 after clocking a growth of 6 percent last month. This shows that the momentum has continued as the core sector was up 0.6 percent month-on-month on a seasonally adjusted basis. This is the fastest pace of growth witnessed since December 2023.

"India Ratings and Research believes the pickup in core sector in April 2024 will provide support to the overall industrial output and expects IIP to grow at around 5 percent YoY in April 2024."