Core infra sector grows 5.1% in April

Six core infrastructure industries grew 5.1 per cent in April against 3.7 per cent in the same month last year.

However on a monthly basis, the key sectors -- crude, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel -- showed a decline in growth as they had expanded by 7.2 per cent in March 2010.

Finished steel sector grew by 4.7 per cent in April, an official statement said today.  The sector had contracted by 1.3 per cent in April last year.

Crude oil production went up by 5.2 per cent in the month against a negative growth of 3.1 per cent in April 2009.

Petroleum refinery products output too grew by 5.3 per cent in April 2010, against a negative 4.5 per cent in the year-ago month.

Coal production, however, contracted by 2.3 per cent in April against 14.2 per cent expansion in the year ago period.

The growth in electricity generation and cement production was lower at 6 per cent and 8.7 per cent in April this year compared to 6.7 per cent and 11.9 per cent in April 2009 respectively.

For the financial year 2009-10, the six core sectors, which have 26.7 per cent combined weightage on the the overall industrial production, registered a growth 5.5 per cent against 3 per cent in the same period last year.