India's Core Sector Output Expands By 8.4 Per Cent In April, Says Govt Data

Output in six of the eight core sectors grew in April. These sectors were coal, electricity, refinery products, fertilizers, cement, and natural gas

New Delhi: India's eight core sectors grew 8.4 per cent in April, quickening from a revised 4.9 per cent in March, the Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday.

Output in six of the eight core sectors grew in April. These sectors were coal, electricity, refinery products, fertilizers, cement, and natural gas.

While the production of coal rose by 28.8 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in April, electricity generation rose 10.7 per cent.

Refinery products output rose 9.2 per cent and fertilizers production gained 8.7 per cent in April. Cement production gained 8 per cent while natural gas output rose 6.4 per cent.

Production of steel declined 0.7 per cent in April while that of crude oil fell 0.9 per cent. The core sector had witnessed an exceptionally high growth rate of 62.6 per cent in April 2021 mainly due to the low base effect.

The output of crude oil contracted by 0.9 per cent against a 2.1 per cent decline in April, the data showed.

Meanwhile, India's economy grew by 4.1 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2021-22, pushing the annual growth rate to 8.7 per cent on account of better performance by manufacturing, mining and construction sectors, official data showed on Tuesday.

In the previous fiscal 2020-21, the economy had contracted by 6.6 per cent as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted business activities.

The 4.1 per cent expansion during the January-March period of 2021-22 is the lowest quarterly growth in the last fiscal. The growth was 20.1 per cent, 8.4 per cent, and 5.4 per cent, in the first, second and third quarters, respectively, as per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

With agency inputs