Eight core sector growth slows down to 4.3% in March from 6% a month back

India's eight core sectors grew by 4.3 percent in March, down from 6 percent in February, the commerce ministry said on April 29.

As per the latest data, only three of the eight core sectors exhibited faster rates of output growth in March as opposed to six in February. These three sectors were fertiliser, cement, and electricity.

While fertiliser output jumped by a huge 15.3 percent on a year-on-year basis in March, that of cement and electricity rose 8.8 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.

In February, fertiliser output had contracted by 1.4 percent. Production of cement and electricity was up 5 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.

Among the laggards were coal and crude oil. Production of coal in March was down a marginal 0.1 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. However, crude oil output fell by a larger 3.4 percent on a year-on-year basis.

The decline in core sector growth in March will likely result in a fall for industrial growth, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

The eight core industries together account for 40.3 percent of the total weight of the IIP. As such, core sector performance is a lead indicator of sorts for IIP growth.

Data released on April 12 showed IIP growth edged up to 1.7 percent in February from 1.5 percent in January.

IIP data for March is scheduled to be released on May 12.