Infra Sector Growth Hits Five-Month Low
Official Data Reveals Slowdown in Key Infrastructure Sectors
According to the latest official data, the growth rate of India’s eight core infrastructure sectors has dropped to a five-month low of 2.9% in February. This is a significant decrease compared to the 7.1% growth observed in the same month last year.
Month-on-Month Comparison
On a month-on-month basis, the production growth of these core sectors was also lower than the 5.1% expansion recorded in January.
Sector-wise Performance
- Crude oil and natural gas production showed negative growth.
- Coal, refinery products, steel, and electricity production growth slowed down to 1.7%, 0.8%, 5.6%, and 2.8%, respectively.
- Fertiliser and cement output, however, increased to 10.2% and 10.5%, respectively.
April-February Growth
The growth of these eight core sectors, which include coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement, and electricity, was 4.4% in April-February this fiscal. This is lower than the 7.8% growth recorded in the same period last fiscal.
Source: Various agencies