Output of 8 core-sector industries contracts by 2.5% in Feb

Pulled down by a steep drop in natural gas output, the production of eight core-sector industries contracted by 2.5 percent in February, the first time in 2012-13.

Sector-wise performance revealed that the biggest decline of over 20 percent in the month was witnessed in case of natural gas, followed by coal (-8 percent), electricity generation (-4.1 percent) and crude oil (-4 percent).

The output growth of the core-sector industries was 7.7 percent in February, 2012. The negative performance in reporting month pulled down the cumulative growth in 11 months of 2012-13 ended February to 2.6 percent against 5.2 percent during the corresponding period in 2011-12. The eight industries include crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel and have a weightage of 37.9 percent in the overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

During the month, fertiliser output too shrunk by 4 percent against 4.1 percent growth in February, 2012. However, cement output rose by 3.9 percent against 9.8 percent growth in the same month last year. At the same time, petroleum refinery products index rose by 4.3 percent as compared to 6 per cent in the same month a year ago.

Steel production grew merely by 0.5 percent as against 8.7 percent in February, 2012. The eight core sector industries had grown by 3.1 percent in January and 2.5 percent in the previous month. According to experts, the decline in the core industries will reflect in the IIP data of February, which will be released in the second week of April, 2013. Industrial output grew by 2.4 percent in January against 1 percent in the same month a year ago.