India’s core sector growth increased by 6.1 per cent (provisional) in July 2024 compared to July 2023, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data released on Friday. It also said that the production in the sectors of Steel, Electricity, Coal, Refinery Products, Cement, and Fertilisers all showed positive growth in July 2024. The first four months of FY25 saw a 6.1 per cent growth, compared to 6.6 per cent during the same period the previous year.
The combined Index of Eight Core Sector Industries tracks the output of critical sectors—cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilisers, natural gas, refinery products, and steel—collectively accounting for 40.27 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The growth of core sectors was 8.5 per cent in July 2023.
Industrial production fell to a five-month low of 4.2 per cent in June, down from 6.2 per cent in the previous month.
In July, growth in coal and electricity slowed, but petroleum, fertilisers, steel, and cement saw faster growth. Steel reached a three-month high of 7.2 per cent, up from 6.7 per cent in the previous month. Cement rose to a four-month high of 5.5 per cent, significantly up from 1.9 per cent in the prior month, reflecting a boost in construction activity.
The crude oil sector declined by 2.9 per cent, while electricity generation increased by 7.0 per cent in July. Fertiliser production rose by 5.3 per cent year-on-year in July. The natural gas sector saw a decline of 1.3 per cent in July 2024. Petroleum refinery production grew by 6.6 per cent compared to the same period last year,.
Petroleum climbed to an eight-month high of 6.6 per cent, while fertilisers hit a seven-month high.